What is a midnight craving?
Are you also the one who craves sweet, starchy, or salty foods at night?
Do you also wake up due to hunger at midnight?
Well many of us face the same scenario and for a few the cravings and urge get so strong that we feel a dire need to must eat something no matter how much we had for our dinner.
Potential psychological causes for these unnecessary midnight snacks are:
– loneliness
– grief
– discontinuation of certain hobby or project
– and even a lack of outdoor time.
– unorganized or messy schedule.
Ways to deal with midnight cravings:
1. Set a routine:
Have your meals on time and don’t skip any of them [1]. If you are in a habit of not eating at the proper time then you better have smaller and frequent meals throughout the day. It is necessary to chew your food properly it will give you the feeling of being full and you will eat less food.
2. Use substitutes:
If you feel like eating late at night then keeping a glass of water near your bed will work for you. Scientists believe that about 17 oz (500 ml) of water is sufficient to stretch the stomach enough to send signals of stomach fullness to the brain [2]. Or you can have green tea as a substitute.
3. Avoid junk food:
One of the main reasons is having junk food around you, so avoid keeping junk food in your house.
Have something healthy around you if you can’t control it.
4. Avoid binge-watch:
Binge-watching is a common practice nowadays. While keeping yourself up late at night and eating in front of the screen helps you to develop a habit of midnight snacking.
While being in front of the screen, since you feel distracted, there’s a propensity for you to continuously eat snacks and lose count of them.
5. Find a hobby:
Midnight craving is associated with comfort and relaxation. If you find a new hobby like knitting, reading, or writing it may be helpful.
6. Go to sleep early:
If you instill a habit of sleeping early, it will definitely help you resolve this issue.
Staying up late at night will give you more time and excuses to eat.
Going to bed early will also help to improve your metabolism hence helping you achieve optimum health.
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” __ Benjamin Franklin.
Conclusion:
Above are some of the few suggestions to avoid midnight snacking for sound sleep and a healthy appetite.
