Late Night Eating and Weight Gain…Fact or Myth?
I remember hearing on Oprah once that you shouldn’t eat anything three hours before bedtime. The theory is that you soon will be laying down and your body will naturally slow down the natural processes of digestion when you rest and you could gain weight. It made sense to me, and although I didn’t listen to it, I knew it was something I should do now that I am ready for a new me.
I did a quick search on late night eating and weight gain and I was surprised by what I found. I found a study saying that it is a myth! Here’s the study:
Then, I found a study that said that late night eating a culprit for weight gain in college students:
With differing findings, what is a person who is trying to lose weight supposed to do? I guess in the end I have to come up with my own personal weight loss plan that makes sense to me.
I look at the whole night eating thing this way…if you eat late at night, you more likely to eat fatty snacks that aren’t that good for you. In general, I am going to try to avoid eating after dinner and if I do happen to need a snack I will make it some type of fruit. Maybe some canned oranges or apple slices. Something to satisfy my sweet tooth, yet it is healthy.
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Comments
I’ve been reading Sugarbusters lately and they have a slightly different theory. They’re all about insulin and glycagon. Glycagon is good because it helps our bodies metabolize fat. Excess insulin is bad because it helps us to store fat, especially from sugar. When we sleep, we have more glycagon, unless we have too much insulin (the two work against each other). So they recommend not eating before bed, but especially not eating fruit or other sugars because that will cause the pancreas to release even more insulin and store even more fat.
I’m not finished with the book yet, and I’m not totally sure of the theory, but it’s an interesting idea at least. (And I hope, but am not totally sure, that I’m spelling glycagon properly).
I look at it this way… Eating is like putting fuel in the tank. It doesn’t make sense to put a lot of fuel in if you aren’t going drive anywhere. When you sleep, you aren’t burning much fuel, so the excess is going to be stored as fat (what else would it do?)
By not eating before you go to bed, you have the possibility of preventing weight gain. Worst case scenario, skipping the late night food is going to do nothing, but the best case is that it saves you a lot of weight.
I never go to sleep hungry. I don’t always eat a lot after dinner like I used to, and sometimes won’t eat anything after dinner, but if I am at all hungry before going to bed then I’ll have a snack first.
Unfortunately, I eat dinner way too late these days. There are some nights when I don’t finish cooking until 8:30 or 9:00 at night. We usually don’t eat before 6:00 at the very earliest; average is probably 7:00 or 7:30. I don’t like eating dinner that late, but my work schedule and my workout schedule usually prevent me from eating any earlier.
Like you guessed, total calories are more important than if you get them at night. But, not eating at night is critical for weight loss for most people because eating at night tends to be binge eating, eating even though one is not hungry, and eating unhealthy foods.
Also, try to avoid the canned fruit. It’s usually filled with sugar and void of nutrition.