How night eating contribute to weight gain

Gabriel is not the only one in this dilemma but many Nigerians are caught in this trap of eating late at night either because they close late from work or because they get home late as a result of the traffic congestion on many Nigerian roads. Though there is a small group of people who […]

Gabriel is not the only one in this dilemma but many Nigerians are caught in this trap of eating late at night either because they close late from work or because they get home late as a result of the traffic congestion on many Nigerian roads. Though there is a small group of people who suffer from a Night Eating Syndrome, disorder which prompts them to eat large quantities of food during the evening hours, usually after depriving themselves of food during the day. Sometimes, they are unconscious of this behaviour and are unaware of how many calories they’re consuming. A person who suffers from this disorder is obviously at higher risk for weight gain, although this condition affects only around two per cent of the population.

Scientists say one of the worst enemies of any weight loss program is night eating. The main reason for this is that when you eat late at night, you are most likely not going to be doing enough activity to burn off those calories.

First of all, it just may not be the time you are eating, but WHAT you are eating could be problem. If you feel this could be the case, you will be interested to know that there are some ways to combat the bad effects of late night eating.

Healthier eating is vital if you have to eat late. The last thing you want to do is go to bed with a full feeling. You will most likely not be doing enough activity to even begin burning off those calories. So, it’s better to eat lighter at night than during the day. One last thing to remember is that whenever you are too full to finish, you can save as a leftover to have the next day.

Something you need to think about is portion control. This is the key to not overeating at night. Don’t use the largest plate you have if you are eating late. Using a smaller plate to help control overeating, as your portions will not be as large.  A lot of times, you may not be hungry anymore, but there is still food on your plate, so you eat it. By taking less food, you will not run into that situation as often.

Although some scientists and dieticians reject the “eat less at night to burn more fat” theory and believe that 24-hour calorie balance is the only thing that matters, there are some logical and scientific reasons why fat loss is accelerated if you eat less at night and keep the last meal at least two hours from bedtime

•    1. You are less active at night and are burning fewer calories

•    2. Your metabolism is slowest while you are sleeping

•    3. You will release more insulin at night compared to in the morning

•    4. Your glycogen stores are fuller after a day of eating so you are more likely to store/partition excess carbohydrate as fat instead of storing it as muscle glycogen

When you eat, not just what you eat, can affect your weight, a new study on mice suggests. Mice that were fed a high-fat diet during the time they’d normally eat — the regular hours in their daily circadian cycle — gained 20 per cent in weight over six weeks. But mice fed the same high-fat diet during hours they should have been sleeping put on 48 per cent compared to the weight they started with.

While the results would have to be replicated on humans to see if the effects are the same, researchers suspect they are. “How or why a person gains weight is very complicated, but it clearly is not just calories in and calories out,” said study leader Fred Turek, Professor of neurobiology and Physiology at Northwestern University. “We think some factors are under circadian control. Better timing of meals, which would require a change in behaviour, could be a critical element in slowing the ever increasing incidence of obesity.”