Craving Sweet Or Salt? Here Are Healthy Snacks To Eat When Food Cravings Strike

Let food be your medicine and medicine be the food you crave.

Food cravings can be caused by several reasons. It might be because of nutritional deficiency, stress, hormonal imbalance, etc. 

However, researches have been proved that sugar craving is more common in women whereas in men. 

According to a research held in 2019, Up to 96% of women and 78% of men have food cravings, when they are stressed. 

And this has urged them to eat unhealthy food. 

But guess what?

Craving food is common until you attempt to eat healthy food without ruining your diet.

Every human has different cravings and ways of consuming food. All you need is to learn to control your cravings and eat up healthy food full of nutrition. 

To help you out, in this article, we have gathered some of the healthy food items that you can in-take when hunger strikes. 

Without delay, let’s check out the list of some mouthwatering delights. 

1- Fruits That Are Healthy And Fresh 

Thinking what to eat when craving sugar? Fruits are the best choice. They are high in sugar, low in fats, contain fiber, minerals, and all sorts of vitamins. 

So, when you’re craving fruit or sugar, eating fruits like grapes, berries, and mangoes will help you satisfy your food cravings.

You can either eat them as they are, or you can even mix these in yogurt to make a smooth smoothie. So add fresh fruits to your grocery list now. 

2- Eat Wasabi Peas When Craving Spicy Food

Wasabi peas are also another healthy food. These peas are coated and roasted in a mixture of starch, sugar, salt, oil, and wasabi.

There are no added preservatives and contains no artificial flavorings. They are high in fiber and other nutrients.

Research held by the national institute of health proved that men need to intake 30 to 38 grams of fiber pre-day, whereas women need up to 21 to 25 grams of fiber per day.

And wasabi peas are a great source of fiber. A hand full of these in a day can easily fulfill fiber deficiency along with food cravings. 

3- Fig And Garlic Bread Stuffed Chicken

What is tastier than garlic bread in lunch? The answer is garlic breadstuff with chicken. Yes, it is a healthy, delicious, and perfect treat for your healthy craving.

This is just a luxurious, healthy snack for light eaters and for the one who’s craving salt. It is 695kcal calories per serving, 42.6g of protein, and 52.5 g of carbs. 

So you can enjoy this tasty snack and ease your food cravings even if you are on a diet. 

4- Apple Slices Dipped In Peanut Butter

This one is for your sweet tooth cravings. Peanut butter can be found in every household nowadays. And it has many health benefits. They can increase the amount of good cholesterol and decrease bad cholesterol (LDL). 

There is no linked between peanut and weight gain, so it will not give you fat. 

While on the other hand, we have apples, and we are sure everybody knows that ” an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” 

Apples are high in fiber and poly phenol antioxidants that can improve gut health and reduce heart disease risks.

Just pour some peanut butter in a bowl or swipe it up with apple slices, or simply pour the peanut butter on the apples and eat it like that. 

5- Protein Bar When Craving Something Sweet

Craving chocolate or strawberry bar? Make this craving healthy by eating the protein bar. You can buy the bar from the local store or online, but it will be great to try a homemade chocolate protein bar.

To bake the protein bar, you just have some ingredients like oat flour, maple syrup, protein powder, peanut butter are required. Additionally, you can add chocolate chips or blueberries, or strawberries according to your liking of flavor. 

The average protein bar contains 5g to 10g of fat, 25g to 35g of carbs, and 5g to 10g of fiber. They are a good source of multi-nutrients, potassium, Vitamin B, and iron. This is the chance to get benefits from your food cravings. 

What Causes Food Cravings?

Food cravings meaning is simple. “To crave a particular food at a specific time. It can be snacks, chocolates, candies, burritos, etc”. 

Food cravings can be caused by different reasons Stress can be the reason to increase the level of cortisol hormone. And this hormone (cortisol) is linked to hunger and cravings. A higher stress level can lead to binge-eating. 

The changes in hormones estrogen and progesterone that arise right before PMC may exaggerate the food cravings, especially for carb-rich food. 

Too little sleep or irregular sleep can cause the disturbance of hormones responsible for regulating hunger, sleep cycle, and fullness, which can intensify the food cravings. 

Pregnancy is the visible cause of intense food cravings. The hormonal changes during the stages may influence the receptor of women towards smell and taste and its influence on different food cravings like sugar cravings at night. 

Sometimes the mood of the person reflects the specific food they crave. Like when people are thinking negatively, they tend to crave light food like salad. 

The other causes can be eating context, your gut flora, poor diet, high processed food, etc. 

How To Stop Food Cravings?

The best way is that you should use your food cravings to eat something healthy and beneficial.

But still, if your guts want something unhealthy, here are few things that can help you reduce and stop your food cravings. 

Drink plenty of water. Whenever you feel that you want something spicy or salty. Just stand up and drink water until you are full. And see that your cravings will be fades away. And at the same time, you can add this step toward your weight loss journey. 

Plan your meal and stick to it. Planning your meal can give you a good result. Because you know that what you are going to eat. So it encourages you to wait some time and enjoy the tasty meal when it’s the right time.

Avoid eating out. Having dinner at a restaurant can be bad for your health and for your pocket too. Firstly the restaurant’s food is highly processed, and it is one reason the cravings increased.

Get enough sleep. Staying awake late at night is the main reason that you crave midnight snacks. If you manage to make a good sleeping schedule, you can easily avoid the midnight cravings. 

Stress: Stress is another reason for cravings, so try to fight it. Keep yourself indulge in those things that make you happy. Sort out the problem that is a burden on your mind. Light some scented candles at home and relieve your stress. This is how you can alleviate your food cravings too.

Good Run: Have a run or try to view your heartbeat, or your BMI, or your blood pressure. You can quickly wear smartwatches nowadays to get an insight into your health. And when you find that you are not going to according to your plan and if there is a sudden change in your blood pressure or heartbeat because of pleasuring your cravings, then take a penalty for the damage.

Bottom Line 

These were some of the healthy snacks that you can eat for your food cravings. And we’ve also stated some reasons that can intensify your desires and some steps on how you can stop them. 

Try to eat healthily and stay fit. Don’t forget to have a good run in the morning and a calm walk after the evening meal.

Change your habit from unhealthy to healthy for yourself.