Besides the extra calories, eating too close to bedtime can have other health implications such as digestive issues. When sleeping, our digestion naturally slows down as our metabolism enters a resting state. Lying down in bed immediately after eating can lead to symptoms such as indigestion, acid reflux and heartburn.
While there is no scientific evidence that eating after a certain time of the night can make you gain weight, people who habitually eat their main meal late in the day do tend to have more difficulty controlling their weight. Research does suggest your body burns calories less efficiently later in the day.
It's common to hear the phrase “don't eat after 8 p.m.” when you're trying to lose weight. But when you think about it in terms of calories, the math doesn't work out. As long as you stick to your goal and eat fewer calories than you burn, you should lose weight.
Compared to eating earlier in the day, prolonged delayed eating can increase weight, insulin and cholesterol levels, and negatively affect fat metabolism, and hormonal markers implicated in heart disease, diabetes and other health problems, according to results from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the ...
“When you eat late at night, you're going against your body's circadian rhythm,” she says. It's all about the way your body adjusts its insulin sensitivity. Your body is more sensitive in the morning on purpose. “That's to help fuel our bodies, get us moving and get us through the day,” explains Supan.
As a guideline, you should stop eating two to three hours before bed. This will give your body enough time to digest your food, lowering your chances of acid reflux and digestive issues keeping you up.
Going to bed hungry may be OK if you're meeting nutrition requirements on a daily basis or following a healthy weight loss plan. In many cases, a healthy eating schedule may result in you feeling hungry before bedtime.
Then, between the hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., our digestive functions get stronger and metabolism reaches its peak. Like nature, when the sun is highest in the sky, our body temperature is at its highest point of the day. This is when your body digests foods and burns fuel most efficiently.
There are many reasons you can gain weight that have nothing to do with food. Sometimes weight gain is easy to figure out. If you've changed your eating habits, added more dessert or processed foods, or have been spending more time on the couch than usual, you can typically blame those reasons if you gain a few pounds.
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.
Weight gain
Your body gains weight when you take in more calories than you burn off. This is the case no matter when you eat. Going to sleep directly after you eat means your body doesn't get a chance to burn off those calories. In fact, eating a big meal and then hitting the couch can be just as harmful.
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.
If you want to maintain or lose weight, then you shouldn't eat after 7 p.m. There are myriad reasons why people might not want to eat after a certain time in the evening, especially if it's close to when they go to sleep, says Cara Harbstreet, M.S., R.D., L.D., owner of Street Smart Nutrition..
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.
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. Banishing late night snacks after that time could help alleviate the symptoms of acid reflux disease, too.
The practice of 16/8 intermittent fasting involves limiting your intake of foods and calorie-containing beverages to a set window of 8 hours per day. You abstain from food for the remaining 16 hours, though you're still allowed to drink water and other no-calorie beverages, like plain coffee or tea.
The diet doesn't have enough calories
Eating too little — say, 1,000 calories a day — can prevent you from losing weight, too. "When you don't eat enough, your body is starving and it's not going to lose any extra weight" because it needs those energy stores to keep you alive, Fakhoury said.
Poor sleep, sedentary activities, and eating too many processed or sugary foods are just some of the habits that may increase your risk of weight gain. Yet, a few simple steps — such as mindful eating, exercise, and focusing on whole foods — can help you reach your weight loss goals and improve your overall health.
Over time, studies have shown that metabolic rate (how fast we burn calories) starts to slow down by 2 to 3 percent each decade, beginning in our 20s. It becomes more noticeable between ages 40 and 60.
Eat eggs, oatmeal, and fruit in the morning to support metabolism and energy levels. Lifting weights can help you lose a few extra pounds each year.
"When it comes to weight loss, going to bed a little bit hungry can help because it keeps hormones like insulin low, and that can help facilitate weight loss," Davis says. But she reiterates that having a big dinner right before bed has the opposite effect.
Waking up hungry likely isn't a cause for concern, but you'll need to make sure any late-night eating isn't making you gain too much weight. Eat a healthy dinner and don't go to bed hungry. A high-protein snack or a warm glass of milk can keep your blood sugar levels steady through the night.
However, by going to bed on an empty stomach, your blood sugar level may drop, also referred to as hypoglycemia. The condition can be dangerous for people with diabetes and other critical health issues. Even in healthy folks, low blood sugar levels can cause headaches and dizziness and negatively affect sleep.