Nutrition – Healthy Snack Ideas – as part of the nutrition series by GeoBeats.
Some late evening snacks that would not give you too many calories are things like popcorn. A serving of popcorn is actually 3 cups and you can cook it on the stove with just a touch of oil and then only lightly salt it. And I do recommend that because many of the microwaveable popcorns are very high in salt and some saturated fat. Although, there are some choices that are light microwave popcorn that work as well. I really like the hundred calorie pack of microwave popcorn because it controls the calorie for you or for your kids. Another great light evening snack would be something from the dairy group. Dairy has tryptophan that actually helps you sleep. So a nice vanilla steamer, a cup of low fat or nonfat milk with a little light vanilla syrup in it, warmed up on the stove or in the microwave can help you sleep and the protein and the carbohydrate and the tryptophan that is in the milk actually makes you a little bit sleepy.
Another food from that group would be a non fat yogurt. It is a nice controlled portion, six to eight ounces, and again, it is going to give you a little bit of carb and a little bit of protein. If you are a little bit hungrier, a small bowl of cereal, such as Cherrios, with nonfat milk would also be an appropriate light evening snack. What you want to stay away from in the evening is foods that are very high in fat or sugar, that could actually disturb your sleep. So that big slice of pepperoni pizza, no, not a good idea. Or the big second piece of a rich pie, not a good idea. Those foods are not only going to pack on calories at a time of day when you do not need them, but they might disturb your sleep as well.