Which Foods Make the Best Bedtime Snack?

The advantages of fruit, and how to balance out the occasional less-than-healthy snack

Many people preparing for bed first make a pit stop in the kitchen. Most experts say the types of foods we often go for after hours, such as ice cream and chips, are bad for many reasons. But some scientists say certain foods can encourage a good night’s sleep. One expert, neuroscientist David Earnest of Texas A&M Health Science Center, explains the advantages of fruit and how people with late-night cravings can balance out an occasional less-than-healthy snack.

Meal replacement

Bedtime snacking is probably a necessary evil in a society where an irregular workday is the norm, says Dr. Earnest, who specializes in how our internal clocks relate to metabolic diseases like Type 2 diabetes. Many Americans find themselves skipping meals to carve out more time for work and chores. “But then after 11 p.m. or midnight, you’re hungry,” he says. “So what you’re doing is not really snacking, you’re replacing that normal meal with something quick and easy to consume.”
When night owls want to push through for another hour, they typically seek high-energy foods, particularly those high in fat and protein, Dr. Earnest says. Eating fat and protein in the morning is what the body expects to gear into action. Late at night, that same amount of fat not only jolts the body’s systems back to work when they should be winding down, “it also has a greater inflammatory effect on the body, and inflammation is what triggers metabolic and cardiovascular disease,” he says.

The omega-3 solution

For people who can’t resist the urge to eat late at night, there may be some help: They can cancel out most of the negative effects by eating foods or taking supplements rich in omega-3 fatty acids during the day, Dr. Earnest says. He explains that those “good fats” block the production of inflammatory prostaglandins for about 8 to 12 hours. “You can probably get away with eating salmon for lunch, for example, and then snacking on whatever late at night, occasionally,” he says. An omega-3 supplement can even be taken just before a midnight candy bar and still help combat the snack’s pro-inflammatory saturated fatty acids, since supplements work quickly, he says.

Healthier options

Eating the right foods for a late-night snack can help you get a restful sleep, Dr. Earnest says. Leafy greens and pumpkin seeds are high in magnesium, which can relax muscles and reduce the symptoms of restless legs syndrome. Milk, unprocessed turkey and hazelnuts are high in tryptophan, an amino acid that converts into the neurotransmitter serotonin, which helps the body sleep. “Tryptophan can also affect how fast we go into REM sleep, which we need,” he adds. Some nutritionists tout fruits like cherries, bananas and pineapples as triggers for the production of melatonin, the hormone that signals it is time to sleep. Dr. Earnest expects any fruit is probably OK as a bedtime treat, since fruits are typically low in fat and calories compared with other snack foods. “Unless you’re exceeding the normal calories in a day consistently, late-night fruit should not be a problem,” he says.

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“I always tell people to get into a regular cycle. Don’t skip meals during the day. Have a standard bedtime. Then you won’t crave food late at night,” Dr. Earnest says. “It’s not only what you eat, it’s when you eat it.”