Contents:
- Medical Video: Strategies to End Nighttime Eating
- Dinner doesn't make it fat
- What foods should be eaten when hungry at night?
- Is there anything you can do when you are hungry at night, other than eating?
Medical Video: Strategies to End Nighttime Eating
Hungry at night not only makes your stomach growl, but can also make it difficult for you to sleep. Therefore, as soon as hunger strikes at night, you may immediately open the refrigerator or see a supply of instant food that can be cooked quickly. Or if there is a fried rice maker through the front of the house, you might immediately buy it without thinking. But isn't dinner making weight gain? Then, what can you eat when you are starving at midnight?
Dinner doesn't make it fat
There are still many people who think that dinner makes fat. Even though this is not the case. Dinner is not the direct cause of your weight gain. It's your choice of eating menu that might be the culprit.This also does not depend on one's eating time. When you eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even early in the morning, you can make it fat if you eat too much food. Because the calories that enter are still more than those that come out.
The food you choose when you are hungry at night generally tends to contain high calories, high fat, or high sugar, for example fried rice, fried noodles, or fast food. When you are hungry at midnight, you want to eat anything that satisfies your appetite, without thinking about the calories it contains. So that even weight gain can occur.
To avoid gaining weight, you should choose food wisely when it's midnight hungry. Choose foods that contain little calories. Also, don't eat until it's full. This can actually make your sleep less restful because the stomach is hot and feels hot.
What foods should be eaten when hungry at night?
While determining what you want to eat when you are hungry at night, you should drink a glass of water first. After 20 minutes, if you still feel hungry, then you are really hungry. However, if your hunger is lost after drinking, maybe this is just fake hunger. You might just feel thirsty and need to drink, not need to eat.
If you don't want to gain weight at dinner, one thing you have to remember is eating small portions. Small portions can reduce the calories that enter your body. In addition to servings, also pay attention to the nutritional content contained in the food you eat.
Don't choose foods with high calories and high sugar. Choose foods that contain carbohydrates and protein when eating at night. For example, fresh fruit with yogurt, one slice of whole wheat bread with peanut butter, whole grain cereal with low-fat milk, or other. But remember, only consumption in small portions, yes.
The combination of foods containing carbohydrates and protein makes you sleepy, while also making you full. This certainly can help you to sleep better. Carbohydrates help the amino acid tryptophan (which causes drowsiness) to make it more available in the brain, while proteins are those that make up tryptophan, according to the Sleep Foundation.
However, do not go straight to sleep after eating, give a time lag of at least two hours after eating if you want to sleep. This time the body needs to digest the food you eat. If the body digests food while sleeping, maybe the next day you wake up feeling tired.
Is there anything you can do when you are hungry at night, other than eating?
We recommend that you first know what causes you to be hungry at night. If the cause is because you eat less during the day or skip dinner, maybe you should eat to get rid of hunger and so you can sleep well.
However, if the cause of hunger is a momentary appetite that suddenly arises because you are looking at food ads, for example, you might be able to keep yourself busy to forget hunger. You can read books, complete your assignments, or other things you can do. Or, you can also go to bed early.
