Does eating at night make you fat?
When you have trouble falling asleep or waking up, it sometimes happens that you start eating at night. This bad habit is not without consequences on health and weight. But there are tips to limit nighttime cravings and avoid gaining weight without realizing it.
Why are we hungry at night?
If you can’t sleep because you’re hungry or you rush to the fridge when you wake up unintentionally, you probably have nighttime food cravings syndrome . Long considered a myth, research has shown that it is a real eating disorder.
In 2014, a study (1) conducted in collaboration between Chinese and American universities demonstrated that genes were responsible for these nocturnal cravings. These are the PR1 and PR2 genes, related to sleep and sleep disorders , respectively . The study authors introduced these genes into mice and turned them off one after the other. When the PER2 gene is put to rest, hunger prevents mice from sleeping. When it is the turn of the PER1, fatigue is felt more quickly.
These two genes are important and in most people they synchronize to prevent nighttime cravings and promote sleep. But in case of failure of one of the two, the syndrome appears. However, the study also demonstrated that this syndrome did not cause weight gain in mice…
The consequences of nighttime cravings
Weight gain in humans, on the other hand, seems to be a significant consequence of nighttime cravings. In their study, the researchers hypothesized that easy and consistent access to food was the most determining factor. Eating at night makes you fat for a simple reason: the body is programmed to slow down during this period , and this involves the metabolism and the digestive system.
Beyond simple weight gain, this syndrome has above all significant consequences on the quality of sleep. Unwanted awakenings tend to disrupt the internal clock and cause poor sleep . In the long term, poor sleep has consequences on cardiovascular activity and the risk of heart disease increases more and more. If stress and insomnia are the result of nighttime binge eating, the situation can get worse quite quickly and it’s important to take some fairly simple steps.
How to stop eating at night?
The first solution to consider to regain quality sleep is to resolve the cause of insomnia. If this is impossible, then you have to force yourself to adopt new habits to avoid searching the fridge every time you wake up.
To avoid feeling hungry in the middle of the night as much as possible, eat dinner about two hours before your usual bedtime and force yourself to go to bed. Reading a book you like can help you fall asleep, and some herbal teas are also relatively effective. Remember to go to the bathroom before sleeping and avoid drinking too much liquid.
If, despite your best efforts, you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep because you’re hungry, prepare a large cup of very hot green tea. The feeling of hunger is sometimes a bad signal sent by the brain. The heat of the tea can lessen it or make it disappear. If you are still hungry, avoid all sweets, and turn to food that cannot be compulsively consumed: eat leftovers or make your own sandwiches.
These tips won’t necessarily prevent you from eating at night, but they will keep you from gaining weight over the months and adding to the stress of insomnia.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.