How to cop up late night craving?

What is late night craving?

Wanting to eat something late at night and feels hungry after dinner. A persistent disturbance of eating habits or weight control behaviors that result in insignificantly impaired physical health and psychological functioning. This is also called night eating syndrome (NES).

Why it occurs?

  • Sleep : irregular sleep will increase the level of hormones which can boost the craving, get 7-9 hours’ sleep
  • Nutritional deficiency: if diet is low in protein or you cannot provide those nutrients to your body which is useful for normal functioning of cell.
  • Skipping meals: you intake less calories
  • Stress hormone: cortisol is also increase the craving
  • Dehydration: less fluid intake than body requirement

How can we avoid

“Kick late night snacking to the curb!”

Try the following to avoid binging while watching television at night:

  • Don’t miss meals
    Eat three square meals and one or two healthy snacks per day. Skipping a meal leads to late night hunger, unhealthy snacking and slows down your metabolism.
  • Drink plenty of water
    as we know our body mix up hunger and thirst cues. If you feel hungry at night, drink a glass of water for some instant hydration and relief of those hunger pangs. Dietitians recommend drinking eight glasses of water each day.
  • Plan ahead for a healthy snack
    make a plan after dinner to eat a healthy snack to decline stronger cravings later at night.
  • Keep unhealthy snacks out of sight
    the concept of “out of sight, out of mind” can curb the desire to eat junk food. If you crave a specific unhealthy snack, keep it off your grocery list and out of the house.
  • Drink herbal tea
    a cup of hot herbal tea e.g. peppermint, chamomile, or ginger tea will give you fullness. Because it takes a while to finish a hot cup of tea, you’ll be satisfied and, hopefully, bypass the urge to snack on something
  • Brush your teeth
    if you feel an impulse to grab an unhealthy snack at night, brush your teeth. This sends a psychological signal to your mealtime is over brain that you‘re finished eating and are preparing for bed. Also, food doesn’t taste as good after brushing your teeth. Most people tend to eat out of boredom at night, so brushing your teeth after dinner can prevent mindless eating.
  • Exercise Routine: physical activity reduces cravings

Still craving a snack at night?

There are healthy alternatives:

 

1 to 2 cups air-popped popcorn (sprinkle some chili powder, cayenne pepper or parmesan cheese for added taste)

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (or, use as a “dipping sauce” for fruit) 

1 small sliced apple (add a tablespoon of peanut butter for protein) 

Nuts (grab 1/4 cup of almonds, pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seed or pistachios)

Banana “ice cream”: Freeze banana slices for a healthy snack if you crave ice cream. Place the frozen banana slices in a blender along with some skim milk and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. It will have the same consistency as a smoothie or milkshake, but has fewer calories.

Veggie sticks with hummus

Protein rich snacks(hardboiled eggs ,yogurt,cottage cheese)

Energy balls (oats,nuts,seeds,dried fruits)

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