Minimizing late night snack damage

We all know eating after dinner is usually considered a no-no, but if you must have a late night snack some options are much better than others.
Nov. 23, 2011 | By: The Health Local Staff

Eating after dinner is consider taboo for a number of reasons. For dieters, it can be a disaster. Its not good for the digestive system to have to work so hard late at night, and usually leads to less sleep for you.

Sometimes though it can be difficult to avoid munching on something when you finally get to sit down and relax at the end of a busy day. In these cases a compromise has to be made. If you must eat in the evening after dinner, choose a snack with the least late night consequences.

Here a few suggestions:

• You may want to go for the foods that are high in probiotics as these are a natural aid to digestion.
• Fruit is a good alternative, but only some make a good choices for this time of night. Blueberries are a good choice as they tend to be more filling and they are easier to digest with less natural sugar content.

Choose the type of food you are craving, but make sure it is a healthy choice. Avoid grabbing whatever is closest in the cupboard or refrigerator. If its not what your body is looking for, then you can bet you will be back looking for something else before the night is over.

Sweet:

• If its chocolate you are after then go for dark, you will consume less. A great alternative would be some figs which have a sweetness to them and again are very filling.

Salty:

• You could choose between some low fat multigrain lightly salted crackers or even a small quantity of nuts. Go easy with the salt choices though, especially at night.

Just not sure?

• If you can't quite figure out what it is you are looking for then perhaps a healthy granola bar will do the trick for you. Also, apple slices with some peanut butter on them is a good option as well.
• Another alternative is if you had some left over vegetables that you enjoyed at dinner, heating up another serving of these may be beneficial. Make sure these are easily digestible veggies that you are consuming though.

Rember to also give some thought to whether you are looking for a snack simply because you are used to multi tasking. For example, are you only looking for something to munch on because you are watching TV?

These are just a few suggestions to get you thinking a little more of why you may be wanting a late night snack, and what some lesser of two evils may be.