EATING LATE AT night has long been associated with weight gain but new research from the medical team at MIT has proven that that is not the case at all.
PA Wire / Press Association Images
PA Wire / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
They came to a fairly comprehensive conclusion that boils down to a few simple facts.
You put on weight when you consume more calories than you burn off.
You lose weight when you burn off more calories than you consume.
It does not matter when those calories are consumed. 3,000 calories is 3,000 calories, no matter what time of the day you consume them.
If you live a fairly sedentary lifestyle and do not engage in much physical activity, you are at an increased risk of putting on weight.
Nothing really new in this.
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However, their research looked at the possibility that people eat at night for a variety of reasons that often have little to do with hunger, from satisfying cravings to coping with boredom, tiredness, depression or stress. And after-dinner snacks tend not to be controlled.
By this we mean high-calorie foods that are low in nutritional content like crisps and chocolate … and that chicken shawarma kebab.
The research conducted looked at what was eaten – and when it was eaten.
The when, they discovered, was no problem, but the what most certainly was.
Basically, your body’s metabolism slows down when you sleep, which means systems do not function as rapidly as when you are awake, which is part of the basis for the myth that your body doesn’t burn enough calories at night to prevent weight gain from late-night eating.
However, it doesn’t slow down that much — your body still uses energy for basic bodily functions and remember, calories are burnt 24/7.
So when it comes to the overall pattern of weight gain and loss, it doesn’t matter if you eat your calories at 5am – getting up or going to bed, or midnight, your body uses them for fuel and stores the excess as fat in the same way, despite the time.
To combat the what we eat, and not the when, the MIT research recommended;
“Instead of snacks that are high in fat and sugar, think meal foods rather than snack foods. Your late‐night eating should be more like a “midnight mini‐meal” (with a definite start and finish), rather than endless grazing.
“Another benefit of meal foods vs. traditional snack foods is that they tend to have some protein in them. Protein is much more satiating (or filling) than sugary or starchy foods, so you’ll be less likely to raid the kitchen or vending machine again an hour after eating them.”
So in short? Eat what you need, not what you want.
Turns out eating late at night is not as bad as everyone says it is
EATING LATE AT night has long been associated with weight gain but new research from the medical team at MIT has proven that that is not the case at all.
They came to a fairly comprehensive conclusion that boils down to a few simple facts.
Nothing really new in this.
However, their research looked at the possibility that people eat at night for a variety of reasons that often have little to do with hunger, from satisfying cravings to coping with boredom, tiredness, depression or stress. And after-dinner snacks tend not to be controlled.
By this we mean high-calorie foods that are low in nutritional content like crisps and chocolate … and that chicken shawarma kebab.
The research conducted looked at what was eaten – and when it was eaten.
The when, they discovered, was no problem, but the what most certainly was.
Basically, your body’s metabolism slows down when you sleep, which means systems do not function as rapidly as when you are awake, which is part of the basis for the myth that your body doesn’t burn enough calories at night to prevent weight gain from late-night eating.
So when it comes to the overall pattern of weight gain and loss, it doesn’t matter if you eat your calories at 5am – getting up or going to bed, or midnight, your body uses them for fuel and stores the excess as fat in the same way, despite the time.
To combat the what we eat, and not the when, the MIT research recommended;
“Instead of snacks that are high in fat and sugar, think meal foods rather than snack foods. Your late‐night eating should be more like a “midnight mini‐meal” (with a definite start and finish), rather than endless grazing.
“Another benefit of meal foods vs. traditional snack foods is that they tend to have some protein in them. Protein is much more satiating (or filling) than sugary or starchy foods, so you’ll be less likely to raid the kitchen or vending machine again an hour after eating them.”
So in short? Eat what you need, not what you want.
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