The Truth About Eating At Night

The myth we are going to talk about today is "If you eat before going to bed you are going to gain weight".

You have been on track all day, counting your calories and eating all healthy. But as the sun goes down you are on your couch chilling and watching Netflix, suddenly your inner Elephant wakes up, telling you to dig into the freezer you have been avoiding all day. Your inner elephant might be shouting. Hey, you have a low-calorie sup for dinner you deserve your favorite dessert.

But wait. It is 8:00 p.m. which means If you eat anything now even if it is a bowl of salad- all of your calories will turn into fat making you gain all the weight you have lost the past week.

Well, truth to be told, what you eat matters more than when you eat. So, eating veggies or a plate of salad even after dinner won't turn into fats.

That myth of "eating late can make you gain weight" basically stems from an animal study, which suggests that the body may use calories differently at different times of the day.

After that, it became common knowledge and people started to believe that if they ate in the daytime, they would be able to burn those calories. But when they are eating at night before bed, they won't be able to burn them off, and these calories will turn into fats. That's where the advice becomes quite popular: Breakfast like royalty and dinner like a bird.

Well, it may sound sensible but trust us the calories do not work that way. According to recent research, eating at night even before bed does not affect weight much as compared to what you are eating at that time.

So, it is all about calories in versus calories out, not about day or night. Just think about it. You measure all the calories you eat in a day. So if you are eating a salad in the afternoon, it would be the same calories as it would be at 8:00 p.m. Here is that, nobody wants kale or a salad for an after-dinner snack.

So, if you want to have that baby kale as a late-night snack, you can have that. But the problem is that no one really wants that veggie or salad for a bedtime snack, Do you?

Probably NOT, because as it gets dark the decision fatigue sets in, giving your inner elephant more power. And what your inner elephant really wants is that piece of brownie from the fridge or the pack of chips on the counter. And that's what can make you gain weight.

So, if there is any truth in this myth, it would be: people often take in more calories at night. More than needed by the body in the first place.

And no matter what time it is, morning, evening, noon or night, eating doesn't matter, what you eat matters.

Let's Recap:

So, eating after 8:00 p.m. will not make you gain weight. In general, what you are eating and how much you are eating can influence your weight.

So, try to be mindful no matter what time it is, eat when you are actually hungry. Whether it is morning, evening or late at night, ask yourself why you are getting hungry. Is it your body that needs some fuel? Or are you getting bored? Or does your inner elephant just want a dessert?

If your body really needs to eat, then go for it even if it is bedtime. All you need to do is to make healthy choices and keep your calorie count in mind.