Are you overweight and have the bad habit of snacking at night? Are you wondering what you can eat before bedtime without gaining more weight or losing sleep? The section below talks about some food items that not only boost metabolism but also work as sleep aids.
If you are obese or overweight, the only other thing you must do to prevent sleep deprivation is sleeping on a mattress for heavy people. The combination of appropriate snacking and the right sleep accessories will ensure that you have a good sleep every night.
Whole Grain Toast and Homemade Hummus
Unlike what the popular belief suggests, toasts also make great snacks if combined with the right topping. And wholegrain toast is one of the healthiest snacking options you’ll ever come across. Hummus, on the other hand, is a product of chickpeas, which are rich sources of vitamin B. For your information, vitamin B increases our body’s ability to metabolize fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. The vitamin also allows our body to utilize the energy stored in food.
Whole wheat flour, the main ingredient of wholegrain toast, contains a high quantity of magnesium. This mineral improves sleep quality in adults struggling with sleeping disorders like insomnia.
Tart Cherries and Cottage Cheese
According to experts, consuming protein as bedtime snacks aid muscle repair and promote muscle growth. Cottage cheese is a rich source of protein and thus offers both the above benefits. If you eat around 30 grams of protein an hour before going to bed, you’ll soon experience improvement in your muscle quality as well as overall health.
Having a handful of tart cherries along with cottage cheese will pamper your taste buds with a touch of sweetness. Additionally, these cherries will also promote sound sleep. Tart cherries contain melatonin, which is the most talked-about sleep-promoting hormone. Melatonin will help you to fall asleep easily and will also regulate your sleep-wake cycle.
Banana and Nuts
Bananas contain fast-digesting carbohydrates. This means if you have a banana before bedtime, your system will take very little time to digest it and quickly make your body ready for sleep. Other than that, bananas also contain a significant amount of magnesium. Magnesium works by calming the stress hormones and promoting sleep.
Intake of carbs results in the release of insulin from our pancreas. The release of insulin allows tryptophan to enter our brain, which automatically induces sleep.
The buts, on the other hand, are rich sources of healthy fats. When you consume these fats before going to bed, your body and brain feel satiated. However, make sure that you don’t have too much of the nuts. Having a tablespoon of nuts is enough to enjoy the above-mentioned benefits.
Blueberries and Greek Yogurt
If you want your low-calorie snacks to be tasty and satiating, this combination will make you happy. It will ensure that you don’t wake up in the middle of the night hungry and will also work as a great blood sugar regulator. If the Greek yogurt you are having is of high quality, expect it to trump even a bowlful of your favorite ice cream. Yogurt contains a high quantity of calcium, a mineral our body needs for making melatonin from tryptophan. The other prominent nutrients present in Greek yogurt include casein and several other proteins. If you have the yogurt at bedtime, these proteins will keep you full throughout the night. Additionally, you’ll not feel hungry even when you wake up in the morning.
Blueberries are rich sources of antioxidants and fiber. These antioxidants work by soothing our brain and body and lowering physical stress. As a result, intake of blueberries helps people to have a perfectly restful sleep.
Cereal and Milk
The cereal you pick must be one of the whole grain bran variants available on the market. The combination of cereal and milk will work best for you if you need to stay awake till the wee hours of the morning. You can opt for this combination if your restless leg syndrome wakes you up in the middle of the night.
Final Words
If you want to enjoy the benefits of having the above-mentioned snacks, you must learn portion control. This will help you to beat sleep deprivation and meet your weight loss goals without any hindrance.
