Feeding into the desire for food – a guide to cope with late night snacking

Whether it is cramming for an upcoming test, finishing up an assignment or staying up watching YouTube videos, your late night will always be improved by the various snacks that overflow your refrigerator and cupboards.

Although munching on crackers and an occasional tub of ice cream helps fire your midnight-fuel, it is generally not recommended by doctors. According to The Washington Post, eating food after a person’s dinner or regular sleep cycle causes the body to be “more likely to store those calories as fat and gain weight rather than burn it as energy.”

So what should you do? Give up on late night snacking?

Never.

You need this fuel to power through all-nighters. For those who simply cannot avoid the calling of snacks during occasional all-nighters, here are a few tips on healthier ways to snack during the late hours.

Tip 1: Understand the consequences.

Open up your Google browser and type “late night food snacking.” Watch as a majority of the headlines read “Why late night snacking is bad for you” and cry as you skim through the articles that constantly nag you about how you will gain weight. Then look up “healthy late night food snacks” and continue to cry as you see all the articles that force feed you with raw carrot sticks and celery rather than the bowl of your salvaged Halloween chocolate bars that you all know and love.

Tip 2: Choose your side: Healthy or unhealthy?

For the good little children who choose health, keep the following in mind: never eat in large amounts. The fewer calories you eat, the better — that’s why The Huffington Post recommends low-calorie foods like kale chips, snacks that will fill your miniature bowls (but probably not your stomachs).

Tip 3: This is another piece of advice for healthy snackers. In order to avoid the indigestion and acid reflux that often comes with late night snacking, dietician Despina Hyde recommends to avoid lying down after indulging yourself on what your pantry has to offer. In addition, to get your sugar levels up to help you plow through another hour, fruits are your saviors. Fruits provide natural sugars and avoid processed sweeteners such as the major culprit of obesity in the nation: high fructose corn syrup.

Whether this helps you decide to continue or stop your snacking habit, it is best to know the consequences, whether or not you are eating healthily. You cannot depend solely on food to push through those difficult midnight hours, especially when an excess of carbohydrates and fats could negatively affect our bodies. When you scrummage through all your kitchen cabinets, remember to monitor yourself. If your stomach is not grumbling for food, then try to stay away. Save those vegetables and fruits for a family dinner; save the sugary and greasy snacks for binging a TV show or meeting with friends.

You can manage just one more night without your favorite snack at your side supporting you.