Here’s something you might not know: According to dieticians and weight loss scientists, the best snack for losing weight is cottage cheese with fruit and a sprinkle of chopped nuts. In fact, it can even be eaten before bed and there’s STILL a weight loss in sight! Nice to know, right? Who doesn’t like an evening snack now and then.

This is because the slow-digesting protein and fiber from the fruit and unsaturated fats from the nuts is a fabulous combo to help balance blood sugar, feed your muscles while you sleep and provide an antioxidant boost. You combine that with the concentration of tryptophan in the cottage cheese, and now you’ve increased your rate of serotonin and melatonin production—two of sleep’s very best friends. Who knew?

Dieticians say that other good-for-you snacks that support weight loss are nuts in general, string cheese, Greek yogurt with fruit, popcorn (not slathered with a cube of butter, though), and whole wheat toast with peanut butter.

More nighttime snacking news: the five WORST snacks are pizza, chips, candy, spicy foods, and high-sugar cereals. Dang! There goes our family habit of having a bowl of Teddy Grahams® before bed.

One snacking caution though: If you're trying to lose weight or manage diabetes, you always want to take an inventory of your nighttime snacking patterns to determine if they could be pushing you over your calorie or carb limit for the day, thus holding you back from reaching your goals.

There’s a bottom line. The research shows it's OK to eat after dinner, IF we choose foods with fiber, protein and healthy fat. The caution is to avoid sugary, greasy foods and too much of anything. Of course!

I’ll finish with a cottage cheese tip that cottage cheese-detesters (me being one) will like. When pureed, cottage cheese is very much like sour cream, which is very much like plain yogurt.

So blend some with your favorite fresh fruit and a little milk (dairy alternatives work well with this). Cottage cheese is delicious this way. And this is how you can have that above-mentioned nighttime snack that’s so good for you, and like it, too!

    Alice Osborne
    Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2006
    Email the author! alice@dvo.com