We’ve all heard the saying, “Anything you eat after 8pm stores as fat.” But is this actual fact or simply just myth? The correlation people make between late night eating and weight gain is because most people are not snacking on healthy foods such as carrots at 11pm; they are instead over-eating cookies and chips. The truth is, your body does not process foods any differently at 8am or 8pm. It still comes down to the basic math of your calories in versus your calories out. When you overeat, your body will store the extra calories no matter what time of day you are eating them.
According to a study done by Fred Turek (Ph.D.), a professor of neurobiology and physiology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology, he thinks that our circadian clock plays an essential role in food intake. Our circadian clock is our daily 24-hour inner biological cycle and tells our bodies how to regulate sleep. In the study Turek did results found that, “Mice that were fed a high-fat diet during normal sleeping hours gained significantly more weight (a 48 percent weight increase over their baseline) than mice eating the same type and amount of food during naturally wakeful hours (a 20 percent increase over their baseline).” The results are convincing but jumping to the conclusion that eating at night causes weight gain is still a reach because we are not mice. Megan Fellman, a student at Northwestern University in her article Late-Night Snacks: Worse Than You Think responded to the results of the study and said, “Our circadian clock, or biological timing system, governs our daily cycles of feeding, activity and sleep, with respect to external dark and light cycles. Recent studies have found the body’s internal clock also regulates energy use, suggesting the timing of meals may matter in the balance between caloric intake and expenditure.” I agree that our internal clock regulates energy use, but just because our energy level drops at night doesn’t mean our metabolism isn’t up and running.
In contrast to the Fred Turek study, in a study done by The Oregon Health & Science University wanted to end the myth that eating at night causes weight gain. Scientists at this university watched 16 female rhesus monkeys for a year and found that even monkeys who ate the majority of the meals at night were not more likely to gain weight than those that ate throughout the day. I personally agree with the results of this study because it is easier to compare humans to monkey’s than to compare them to mice. These two studies resulted in such different outcomes that it is safe to say more research needs to be done in order to get to the bottom of this claim.
It is no secret that indulging in cookies and other high calorie snacks late at night will cause you to gain weight after you have already had a filling dinner. I think the take away from all of these studies combined is that you should always avoid excess high calorie snacks before bed because you aren’t left with anytime to burn the extra calories. However, if you aren’t able to have dinner till 9pm, go eat, odds are you haven’t exceeded your healthy level of calories for the day. Overall, I think if you keep a healthy balance between calories in and calories out then it doesn’t matter when those calories are eaten.
Works Cited
“Circadian Timing of Food Intake Contributes to Weight Gain.” Wiley Online Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2009.264/abstract>.
Fellman, Megan. “Late Night Snacks Worse than You Think.” Northwestern University. N.p., 3 Sept. 2009. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2009/09/turek.html>.
“OHSU Scientists Dispel Late-Night Eating/Weight Gain Myth.” Oregon Health and Science University. N.p., 1 Feb. 2006. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/about/news_events/news/2006/02-01-ohsu-scientists-dispel-l.cfm>.
Rudis, Jacquelyn. “True or False: Eating at Night Will Make You Gain Weight – See more at: http://www.bidmc.org/YourHealth/TherapeuticCenters/WeightManagement.aspx?ChunkID=156995#sthash.HbKOeaXK.dpuf.” Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.bidmc.org/YourHealth/TherapeuticCenters/WeightManagement.aspx?ChunkID=156995>.
As college students, I can guarantee that not all of us eat and sleep at the same exact time every single day. This is caused by fluctuating class schedules, more work one day opposed to another day and many things in between. That being stated, I find myself ordering Insomnia Cookies or Gumby’s Pokey sticks after midnight and never at a normal eating time throughout the day. I always wondered, was this because my stress levels were a lot higher the night before a big exam? My curiosity that developed as I was writing this comment prompted me to find a little bit more research on this topic. An article published in Health News helps to indicate the reasoning behind stress eating and ways to prevent it from happening. Check it out!
http://news.health.com/2009/03/12/why-we-eat-when-were-stressed-and-how-to-stop/
I really like the concept of this blog because I know for us college students our internal clock is completely messed up day in and day out. Our sleep cycles are turned upside down and whenever we find time is when we eat. I believe the reason why many feel that snacking after 8 o’clock is bad is because our body turns the food that we eat into fuel during the day and stores the rest in our liver as glycogen and at night we rarely use up our fuel like we do in the day. After 8pm most people just relax rather than exercise and stay active. Our bodies over the years have developed so we turn the glycogen in our liver into our next days energy but if we stay up snacking all night than our body doesn’t really get the chance to convert the glycogen. If we waste this glycogen it ends up as fat and we feel more tired the next day so I think its best to consume around 90 percent of your daily caloric intake during the day. Checkout this great article of why to snack during the day here: http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20602924,00.html
This is a great post! I found it very interesting because my roommate and I always catch ourselves eating some late night snack right before bed or while doing homework. Initially it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal because it’s a few calories, but the couple calories are slowly beginning to add up into the freshman 15. I know many people trying to lose weight refuse to eat after 8 because it’s impossible to work off those extra calories. However, I found a link that focused primarily on what foods you choose to eat. Instead of going for the bag of chips, try going for something healthy like warm applesauce. I agree with your final conclusion that if you focus on calories in and calories out there won’t be too big of an issue. http://www.hmrdiet.com/Succeed/Blog/P/342
Great blog! I found this very interesting because for the beginning of college I four trouble in fitting in dinner before 9, and always wondered if this could be unhealthy. I completely agree with the points made about it not being about when you eat necessarily but rather what you are eating. I do see why eating this late could also be considered unhealthy though. If you eat a bigger snack or meal right before bed than it could lead to things like acid reflux, or heart burn. But when it comes to gaining weight I don’t really see the difference in eating a salad at 6 PM as opposed to 10 PM. I was reading an article that actually says that eating before bed can actually help you gain muscle. As long as you choose slow digesting proteins, choose your carbs wisely, and consume a small amount of fat. So when it comes to this rule, eating late may not be bad for you, but it can be if you choose to eat poorly.http://www.stack.com/2014/06/17/eat-before-bed/
I think this is a great blog topic because many of us college students are guilty of grabbing a slice of canyon pizza on the way home at night. You’re right, that this type of eating is the stuff that makes you gain weight. Insomnia cookies, DP dough and late night at redifer are all culprits of making us gain the freshman 15. On the other hand, I think that eating after 8PM is bad in any case. You have to consider the amount of calories you would be burning during the day moving around versus sleeping in your bed. For example, a 100 pound person burns about 40 to 50 calories per hour based on the idea that you burn about .4 per pound per hour while asleep. Comparing that to the amount of calories you would be burning walking to class, cleaning your room or even doing homework, it doesn’t come out equal. I think that not eating after dinner is a good rule for people to follow simply because you most likely aren’t going to have time to burn all those calories before the turn into fat. This is definitely different for everyone but I still follow this rule!
https://www.udemy.com/blog/how-many-calories-do-you-burn-sleeping/