Healthy Late-Night Snacking Ideas

If you're anything like me, a late-night snack is something that comes to mind often. Most snack foods are usually less than healthy, and enjoying those before you turn in for the night could lead to a habit that causes negative repercussions you're surely trying to avoid.

Here are a few of my favorite healthy snack options for a mindful late-night snack:

1. Apple or Banana Slices with Peanut Butter

To set yourself up for a great night's sleep, try having banana or apple slices with peanut butter or any nut or seed butter that you prefer. Bananas are rich in an amino acid called L-tryptophan. Through a process of steps, this amino acid gets converted into melatonin, which is the hormone that is responsible for giving us a good quality sleep at night. Peanuts, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds also contain high levels of this amino acid, so butters from these nuts and seeds would be great choices. Almonds contain high levels of magnesium, which is an essential mineral that can help you relax and fall asleep easier.

2. Almond-Milk Yogurt with Berries

Pair some unsweetened, plain almond milk yogurt with your favorite berries for a sweet but low-sugar snack. Almond yogurt has protein and will keep you satisfied before falling asleep. A great trick is to use frozen berries and heat them in a saucepan until they begin to burst and release liquid. When you stir these warmed berries into your yogurt, your whole yogurt will be flavored with the taste of berries without the added sugars that store-bought flavored yogurts contain! Plus, berries are great low-sugar fruits and don't contain many calories. If you want to sweeten it up for a bit more of a late-night treat, you can add a teaspoon of honey.

3. Roasted Chickpeas

You might be wondering why anyone would reach for chickpeas to satisfy their late-night cravings, but they are delicious and crunchy when roasted! You can create a variety of flavors, from adding spicy chili flakes to cinnamon and raw sugar. They're even tasty with a simple sprinkle of salt. Simply drains and rinse a can of chickpeas, pat them dry, season them to your liking and place them in the oven at 350°F for around 45 minutes. You can store them in an airtight container for a few days and always have a crunchy, healthy snack to grab. They're packed with protein and contain fewer calories than roasted nuts.

4. "Nice" Cream

No more reaching for that tub of ice cream to satisfy your late-night sugar cravings! Banana "nice" cream is a much healthier alternative as it contains only natural sugars from fruit and no artificial flavors or added sugars. It is a low-calorie alternative to ice cream with way less junk. You can make the flavor anything you like. If you're a chocolate lover, add a tablespoon of raw cacao powder, blend it with two frozen bananas, and add some dark chocolate chips to top it off. If you see that the consistency is too thick to blend properly, add a splash of milk of your choice.