A gastroenterologist discusses a recent study that found eating late-night meals may increase your risk of obesity. Before making an evening dinner reservation or heading to the fridge for a midnight snack, you might want to consider the impact that eating late at night may have on your body.
So when exactly should you stop eating at night? Scientists can't agree on a single set time, but the consensus seems to be within three hours before bedtime. So if you go to bed at 11 p.m., don't eat after 8 p.m.
When you eat late, the calories you intake don't get digested properly. As a result, they are stored as fat in your body. Eating late regularly conditions your body to store the calories as fat, which leads to weight gain. This can also give you problems like indigestion and heartburn.
Eating late at night is not inherently unhealthy and will not directly cause weight gain unless it causes you to eat more; it is your total daily calorie intake that determines if you will gain weight. If you're hungry late at night, do your best to opt for nutrient-dense whole foods and eat as mindfully as possible.
“The studies suggest that eating out of our normal rhythm, like late at night, may prompt weight gain” and higher levels of blood sugar, which can raise the risk of chronic disease, Allison says.
Overeating before the bedtime increases the risk of indigestion and heartburn, resulting in restlessness and sleeplessness. Eating late also sends a message to the brain to keep active that further prevents the body from powering down.
Aside from causing belly fat, eating late and reclining on a full stomach increases your risk of developing acid reflux and indigestion, since gravity is no longer able to pull everything in your tummy straight down.
There's no such thing as a set time you should eat dinner.
Someone who wakes up at 5am could be having dinner at 5pm, while someone who goes to sleep at 1am could be having dinner at 10pm–none of it is inherently wrong or unhealthy, according to Farah Fahad, registered dietitian and founder of The Farah Effect.
Will Sleeping After Eating Make You Fat? No, sleeping after meals will not necessary make you fat. While it may seem like eating before bedtime would lead to weight gain because you are not burning off the calories you've consumed.
When asked if it's better to eat dinner late or not at all, all experts confirm that eating is more important. "If you skip dinner, you'll find that your body will want to make up for lost calories the next day.
And then in Mediterranean countries like Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, dinners are a party reserved for much later. Typically, these hot weather countries have a long afternoon siesta (nap) and people commune for dinner later in the night, starting at 10pm or even later.
This is a common myth, but it is indeed a myth. Setting a specific time to stop eating by really doesn't make sense, as we all have different schedules. Our bodies do best if we eat often during the day (ideally every 2-4 hours).
"When meals are delayed by four hours and everything else stays the same, you burn fewer calories, have an increased drive for food, and experience changes in fat tissue that would promote weight gain," said study author Frank Scheer.
A recent study, The Big Breakfast Study: Chrono‐nutrition influence on energy expenditure and bodyweight, showed that breakfast as the biggest meal is the best strategy for weight control.
Calories consumed at night won't change your metabolism or count more than calories consumed during the day. Weight gain and weight loss comes down to a simple math equation, explains Day. “Too many calories taken in versus not enough expended on any given day, regardless of the time, will lead to weight gain.”
There's no set time you should stop eating to lose belly fat, but, as a guideline, you should avoid eating two to three hours before bed to stop it from disrupting your sleep and body clocks, which can cause belly fat gain. Studies show early dinners can help people lose weight.
When participants ate later, they also burned calories at a slower rate and exhibited adipose tissue gene expression toward increased adipogenesis and decreased lipolysis, which promote fat growth.
Your Slow Metabolism:
When you have a slow metabolism, your body doesn't convert food into energy in sufficient quantities. So most of the food you eat is stored in the form of fats. This is the main reason why some people get fat even though they don't eat much.
If you eat too much and exercise too little, you're likely to carry excess weight — including belly fat. Also, your muscle mass might diminish slightly with age, while fat increases.
“Eat after 8, and you'll gain weight” has a nice ring to it, but it's not true. It is based on the myth that the body cannot properly metabolize food during sleep. However, the body has intricate systems of metabolizing, storing, and using energy from food.
Having a decent overnight fast may be a great place to start to give your gut bacteria a helping hand. Having a 10-12-hour overnight period, say 7pm-7am where no food is consumed, is a very traditional way of eating.
Cons to eating before bed include poor sleep, slower metabolism, eating more, unhealthy choices, acid reflux, indigestion, and heartburn, and health risks.