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Sadia Badiei, known for running the Pick Up Limes YouTube channel, recently shared a video on her favorite vegan snacks to eat before bedtime. In the video, she explains how diet culture often discourages eating late at night, but honoring your body’s hunger cues is important – especially if you’re going to bed hungry.
The video features three easy, plant-based evening snacks that combine protein, carbs, and essential minerals. As well as nourishing the body, some even contain nutrients that may help you fall asleep faster. The recipes are quick to prepare and made with accessible whole food ingredients, making them ideal for winding down at night.
Read more: ‘This Is My Mom’s Secret Vegan Recipe – Here’s How To Make It’
Snacks to eat before bedtime
Creamy cheesecake dip
This five-minute snack combines butter beans, cashew butter, vegan cream cheese, maple syrup, and vanilla. The beans and cashews are rich in protein and contain tryptophan – an amino acid that supports serotonin and melatonin production.
Badiei recommends blending all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, then serving with fresh fruit or cookies. “Trust me, you can’t even taste it [the beans] in there,” she says, adding that the dip is both delicious and nourishing.
Stuffed energy balls
Next on the list are these chocolate peanut butter balls, which have been one of her favorite snacks for over a decade. They start with a base of soft dates, roasted cashews, cocoa powder, sesame seeds, and ground flaxseed.
After blending, each ball is filled with a dollop of peanut butter and optionally rolled in cocoa powder or toasted sesame seeds. The combination of protein from the nuts and carbs from the dates helps tryptophan enter the brain more efficiently, aiding sleep.
“They’re decadent, rich, and absolutely delicious,” Badiei says.
Golden hot chocolate
This warm drink blends soy milk, dates, cocoa powder, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla, and a pinch of nutmeg and black pepper. Soy milk provides both tryptophan and calcium – two nutrients tied to melatonin regulation.
The drink is first blended, then gently heated on the stove. Badiei notes that dates add fiber, while spices like turmeric and cinnamon enhance the comforting qualities of the drink.
“This [hot chocolate] is comforting, nourishing, and ready to enjoy,” she says. Badiei also highlights that minerals like iron, magnesium, and zinc play a role in supporting restful sleep.
Together, these three snacks offer a simple way to nourish the body and wind down in the evening. Badiei notes that a good evening snack combines protein, complex carbs, and sleep-supporting minerals – all of which can be found in these plant-based recipes.
You can find more plant-based videos on the Pick Up Limes YouTube Channel.
Read more: The Best Fudgy Brownie You’ll Ever Taste – And It’s Plant-Based
