Dietitians Swear by These 6 Snacks for Beating Cravings—Right here’s Why

[ad_1] <img width="800" height="502" src="https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/dietitian-recommended-snacks-1024x643.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/dietitian-recommended-snacks-1024x643.jpg 1024w, https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/dietitian-recommended-snacks-300x188.jpg 300w, https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/dietitian-recommended-snacks-768x482.jpg 768w, https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/dietitian-recommended-snacks.jpg 1504w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /> Sticking to a wholesome meal plan could be difficult, particularly when cravings strike.

A few of the most typical challenges folks face with regards to staying on monitor is curbing cravings and resisting snacks, based on MyFitnessPal information.

These hurdles can depart anybody feeling annoyed.

However what in the event you dealt with cravings with dietitian-approved snacks that may assist you attain your objectives with out feeling disadvantaged?

Enter MyFitnessPal’s dietitians! They’ve made a listing of their very own go-to snacks to maintain you full and energized whereas staying inside your calorie and macro objectives.

Whether or not your cravings strike within the night or in the course of your workday, these expert-recommended snacks could also be precisely what you want.

What Do Cravings Actually Imply?

Cravings aren’t nearly willpower. They’re usually alerts out of your physique, mind, or your feelings—like craving sweets if you’re feeling low or reaching for salty snacks if you’re dehydrated.

The urge to seize a pint of ice cream or bag of chips can come up from all types of triggers, and realizing what they imply might help you determine tips on how to reply.

Should you usually crave snacks at evening …

Late-night cravings? They may really be tied to your physique’s pure circadian rhythm—the inner clock that controls your starvation and fullness hormones (1).

Our metabolism slows down because the day goes on, however research present that starvation tends to spike at evening. It’s considered the physique’s manner of storing vitality for the in a single day quick (1).

So, whereas these nighttime snack assaults earlier than mattress aren’t nice for weight administration, they could simply be a pure a part of how we’re wired.

That mentioned, in case your circadian rhythm will get disrupted, these cravings can go into overdrive. Stress, lack of sleep, and inconsistent consuming habits could make you attain for sugary, high-calorie meals (2, 3, 4).

Right here’s what you are able to do to assist lower nighttime cravings:

Eat constantly: Until you might be practising intermittent fasting, goal to eat each 3 to 4 hours inside a 12-hour window to maintain your vitality regular and help your well being (5).

Handle stress: Strive deep respiration, yoga, or train in the course of the day that will help you chill out.

Enhance sleep high quality: Purpose for 7–8 hours of sleep and create a chilled bedtime routine to help relaxation.

<img decoding="async" width="1024" height="585" src="https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/foods-that-help-you-sleep-better-1024x585.jpg" alt="Person sleeping soundly in their bed" class="wp-image-56293 size-full" srcset="https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/foods-that-help-you-sleep-better-1024x585.jpg 1024w, https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/foods-that-help-you-sleep-better-300x171.jpg 300w, https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/foods-that-help-you-sleep-better-768x439.jpg 768w, https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/foods-that-help-you-sleep-better-1536x877.jpg 1536w, https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/foods-that-help-you-sleep-better.jpg 1653w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> You may also like

5 Meals That Could Assist You Sleep Higher

Should you usually really feel hungry at midnight…

Like night cravings, waking up with cravings at midnight could possibly be an indication that your circadian rhythm is out of sync (1). This may occur in the event you’re underneath an excessive amount of stress or not sleeping properly.

It might additionally merely imply you’re not consuming sufficient energy or vitamins in the course of the day. Randomly skipping meals or following a restrictive weight-reduction plan would possibly depart your physique too hungry to get by way of the evening.

Listed below are some suggestions that will help you cease midnight snacking:

Monitor your energy: Use instruments like MyFitnessPal to trace what you eat. This might help you be sure you’re assembly your calorie wants—which can be extra vital than you assume.

Eat balanced meals: Embody protein, wholesome fat, and fiber in your meals and snacks that will help you keep full longer (6, 7, 8).

Strive to not eat too near bedtime: If attainable, cease consuming about 2–3 hours earlier than bedtime to present your digestive system time to course of the meals (5).

Should you usually get up hungry in the course of the evening, it might sign an underlying difficulty. Seek the advice of a healthcare skilled to deal with any potential well being issues.

Should you usually crave salty snacks…

Do you usually crave salty snacks like chips, pretzels, or cheese puffs? It'd imply you’re consuming an excessive amount of sodium—or, generally, not sufficient (9).

Sodium, a key electrolyte in salt, is vital for issues like fluid stability, nerve operate, and muscle contractions (9).

Whereas we'd like some sodium in our weight-reduction plan, consuming an excessive amount of of it may really enhance your yearning for it. Your physique will get used to the upper sodium ranges, which can have an effect on your mind’s reward system and make salty meals appear much more interesting (10).

Over time, you would possibly discover that you just want extra salt to attain the identical degree of satisfaction out of your meals (10).

Then again, in the event you’re consuming an excessive amount of water or dropping plenty of fluids (good day, sweaty exercises!), your sodium ranges can drop too low. This may disrupt your physique’s capabilities.

When that occurs, your physique steps in and makes you crave salt to get issues again on monitor (9).

The important thing to holding these salty cravings in verify? Sustaining a wholesome sodium stability. Listed below are some suggestions that will help you out:

Keep hydrated: Drink loads of water, however keep away from extreme consumption to forestall diluting your physique’s sodium ranges. It might assist to calculate how a lot water you want each day (11).

Monitor sodium consumption: Use instruments like MyFitnessPal to observe your each day sodium. Purpose for lower than 2,000 milligrams every day—the beneficial restrict for many adults (12).

Replenish as wanted: Change misplaced sodium by consuming electrolyte-rich meals or drinks after heavy sweating, diarrhea, or vomiting.

Craving salty meals may also be tied to some drugs or well being issues, like Addison’s illness or hormonal imbalances (10). If you end up continuously craving salty meals, focus on it along with your physician to rule out any underlying well being points.

Should you usually crave sweets …

Candy cravings can stem from low blood sugar, nutrient deficiencies, a necessity for vitality, or perhaps a want for a dopamine increase (13, 14). In these moments, your mind would possibly search sugary meals as a fast repair.

Continuously giving in to those cravings, like consuming a each day soda or having ice cream each evening, can hurt your well being and should enhance your want for sugar over time.

The excellent news? Analysis means that chopping out added sugar and synthetic sweeteners for as little as two weeks would possibly assist you kick a candy tooth. This alteration could reset your style preferences and assist cut back candy cravings (15, 16).

Listed below are another methods to deal with sure causes in your candy cravings:

Stabilize blood sugar: Select balanced meals and snacks. Mix protein, wholesome fat, and complicated carbs to maintain your blood sugar regular (17).

Help your vitality: Keep lively, prioritize stress administration, and get sufficient restorative sleep to energise your physique.

Enhance dopamine naturally: Swap sugar for actions that elevate your temper. Strive exercising, listening to music, or having fun with your favourite hobbies.

When you've got a well being situation or nonetheless crave sugar after altering your weight-reduction plan and way of life, see a health care provider or dietitian for customized recommendation.

When you've got being pregnant cravings …

Not all girls have meals cravings throughout being pregnant, however most do, based on research (18, 19, 20).

The precise purpose for these cravings isn’t completely clear. Nevertheless it possible comes from a mixture of bodily, psychological, and environmental elements. Hormonal adjustments, heightened senses, and elevated dietary wants are possible a part of the equation (19).

Tradition can even play a giant function in being pregnant cravings. For instance, girls could crave chocolate within the U.S., savory meals in Egypt, and rice and sushi in Japan (19).

Apparently, the meals we consider as “forbidden” can set off even stronger cravings throughout being pregnant (19).

It’s okay to indulge generally, however stability is vital—particularly throughout being pregnant. Whenever you snack, goal for choices which are good for each you and your child. Strive nutrient-rich selections like contemporary fruits, veggies with hummus, nuts, or unsweetened yogurt.

Should you’re having hassle with being pregnant cravings or really feel you’re lacking vitamins, see a registered dietitian. They will present customized recommendation in your being pregnant vitamin.

Dietitian-Beneficial Snacks for Cravings

Listed below are a few of MyFitnessPal dietitians’ go-to snacks to fulfill cravings with out compromising well being objectives:

Roasted seaweed snacks

In search of a salty, crunchy snack? Roasted seaweed is a scrumptious and wholesome various to chips, says Emily Sullivan, RD.

Not solely is it low in energy, but it surely additionally packs a dietary punch, offering important vitamins together with “130% of the B12 you want per day and 35% of the iodine” in a typical serving (21).

On high of that, Sullivan provides, some early analysis means that seaweed could supply further well being advantages.

“Seaweed could also be related to a lowered danger of coronary heart points, have cancer-fighting properties, assist with blood sugar regulation, and help thyroid well being,” she says (22). However, she notes that extra analysis is required to verify these advantages.

Actual dried fruit snacks

Gummy “fruit snacks” and fruit leather-based with added sugars is perhaps engaging grab-and-go snacks, however they’re not the healthiest choices. Should you’re a fruit gummy lover like Stephanie Nelson, MS, RD, she suggests reaching for actual dried fruit snacks as an alternative.

Her high picks embody That’s It! Apple and Mango or Solely Fruit Snacks. These snacks “have somewhat little bit of fiber and so they are available in comparatively small portion sizes, so I can feed the craving after which be executed,” she explains.

You may also select dried fruits like raisins, apricots, figs, and dates. These fruits are wealthy in fiber, nutritional vitamins, and minerals, making them a satisfying and nutritious possibility. Simply you should definitely verify the ingredient label to make sure that they don’t include added sugars or preservatives.

Mini-Excellent Bars

Should you’re craving one thing that feels somewhat extra indulgent, Mini-Excellent Bars is perhaps the proper snack for you, says Denise Hernandez, RD.

Her go-to is the chocolate-covered peanut butter taste, which she loves for its scrumptious style and balanced vitamin.

Every mini bar incorporates 5 grams of protein and solely 150 energy, making it an excellent supply of protein with a modest calorie rely, Hernandez explains.

Whereas they do include 5 grams of added sugar, they will simply match right into a balanced weight-reduction plan. “I like this to beat cravings as a result of it's each candy and salty, which checks off each cravings that I generally get,” she says.

Greek yogurt with toppings

“Snacks could be a nice alternative to extend your protein, wholesome fats, and fiber consumption in small increments,” says Joanna Gregg, RD.

When she’s craving one thing candy, one among her go-to choices is Greek yogurt with raspberries, strawberries, and a sprinkle of chocolate chips. She notes that simply ¼ cup of Greek yogurt delivers round 6 grams of protein, whereas ¼ cup of berries provides 2–3 grams of fiber.

Melissa Jaeger, RD, LD, additionally recommends Greek yogurt with wholesome toppings as a nutritious and satisfying snack.

She says that “pairing protein with fiber at meals and snacks is a wonderful method to help your well being objectives!” Her favourite mixture contains Greek yogurt topped with chia seeds, a handful of nuts, and contemporary berries—particularly raspberries.

Greek yogurt is filled with protein, which is important for constructing and sustaining muscle mass, Jaeger explains (23).

The chia seeds, nuts, and berries add plenty of dietary fiber, taking this snack to the following degree.

“Getting sufficient fiber not solely helps your digestive operate, but in addition might help you management your blood sugar, handle your ldl cholesterol, and help you in reaching and sustaining a wholesome weight,” she says (24, 25, 26).

Steamed edamame

For a satisfying, protein-rich snack, strive one among Katherine Basbaum, MS, RD’s favourite afternoon snacks: steamed edamame frivolously sprinkled with kosher salt. She says that steaming frozen edamame is fast and straightforward. It’s additionally wealthy in fiber, protein, and unsaturated fat, making it a wholesome, modest-calorie possibility.

Basbaum provides that selecting edamame within the pods might help gradual you down as you eat, stopping you from speeding by way of your snack. Plus, with the pure stability of fiber, protein, and fats, she says it’s the proper snack to tide you over between meals.

Cucumber slices with seasoning

Cucumbers are wealthy in water and nutritional vitamins, making them a refreshing and hydrating snack. I can’t suggest them sufficient! They’re additionally identified for his or her pure cleaning properties. Cucumbers could help in flushing out toxins, stopping constipation, and selling wholesome pores and skin (27).

Plus, they could assist with diabetes prevention, reducing ldl cholesterol, and preventing oxidative stress on account of their antioxidant content material (27).

I get pleasure from an entire cucumber, frivolously seasoned with salt and garlic powder, nearly day by day. It’s an extremely wholesome method to fulfill salty cravings, with solely about 45 energy!

Cease a Craving

Cravings are regular and generally sign the physique’s wants. So, the objective isn’t to eliminate them fully (28).

As talked about, inside triggers, like hormonal adjustments, low blood sugar, and feelings, could cause cravings (28).

However exterior cues, resembling sights or smells, can even spark a want for particular meals. For instance, remembering a nice meal, smelling a bakery, or seeing a donut on social media can set off cravings (28).

These are all often known as “cue-induced cravings.”

So, it’s vital to acknowledge each inside and exterior triggers to handle cravings successfully.

Some triggers could be averted. For example, you possibly can preserve sure snacks out of the home or unfollow particular social media accounts. However others could also be tougher or inconceivable to keep away from.

Dealing with Cravings

Sensible suggestions

We’ve mentioned the significance of a balanced weight-reduction plan, good sleep, and stress administration in managing on a regular basis cravings. However let’s be actual—generally, regardless of how arduous you strive, these intense cravings nonetheless sneak up on you, particularly when one thing triggers them.

Listed below are a couple of easy suggestions that will help you tame these cravings and make them occur much less usually:

Establish craving patterns: Monitor cravings with a meals diary or the MyFitnessPal app to grasp when and why they occur. Recognizing triggers might help you handle them.

Tackle emotional consuming: Course of feelings by way of more healthy retailers like journaling, meditation, calling a pal, or looking for skilled assist. Taking steps to deal with your emotions can cut back unhealthy cravings.

Select more healthy swaps: Swap cravings with more healthy snacks that mimic desired flavors or textures. This satisfies cravings whereas sustaining higher vitamin.

Delay and distract: Cravings can come up from behavior or boredom. When cravings strike, set a timer for 10 minutes and shift your focus by taking a stroll, sipping tea, or partaking in one other pleasant exercise.

Visualize your future self: As a substitute of specializing in fast satisfaction, like a salty snack, take into consideration the long-term advantages of more healthy selections. Image how nice you’ll really feel in the event you persist with your plans—this might help you make higher choices within the second.

Be taught the professionals and cons: Be taught in regards to the well being dangers of unhealthy meals and the advantages of more healthy choices, like improved well-being and nice flavors. This might help shift cravings to more healthy selections.

Whenever you do bask in a much less wholesome craving, goal to maintain it to only one portion. However no matter occurs, don’t beat your self up over it or really feel responsible.

As a substitute, let it go and refocus in your wholesome habits!

The Backside Line

Cravings aren’t all the time unhealthy. They will usually sign what your physique wants. This would possibly embody a selected nutrient, higher sleep, or emotional help.

Realizing what triggers your meals cravings might help you to deal with them in a wholesome manner.

However, don’t deprive your self fully with regards to meals cravings. Having fun with treats sparsely can forestall emotions of restriction. This helps you keep a wholesome relationship with meals.

Stocking up on dietitian-approved snacks can even assist you deal with cravings correctly. This manner, you keep happy and on monitor along with your well being objectives.

Need to take issues to the following degree? Checkout the brand new MyFitnessPal Meal Planner characteristic, designed that will help you grasp meal planning and snacking like a professional.