Healthy food swaps to beat afternoon cravings for chocolate, chips and soft drink

10 quirky tricks to beat food cravings (that are backed by science)

It’s the same old story: your intention to ride the healthy eating train is derailed as soon mid-afternoon rolls around and suddenly all you can think about are chips. Chocolates. Soft drinks.

The reason you crave junk food in the afternoons is basically because food manufacturers are wretched devils who deliberately concoct products that call out to your body’s hard-wired, insatiable desire for fatty, sweet and salty treats. (Damn them.)

“It’s addictive — it triggers the same hormonal response as drugs as alcohol do in our brain,” nutritionist Amelia Phillips explained on Today Extra.

Phillips is well aware that swapping the salty crunch of chips for, say, an apple isn’t going to cut it, and offers realistic suggestions to see you through your afternoon cravings.

“If you want that crunchy, salty flavour, try fava beans or dried chickpeas,” she says. “You can get them at all the major supermarkets and they have three times as much protein, half the salt, and 90 less kilojoules — so much healthier than chips.”