Why is Late Night Snacking Bad?

Introduction

Whether it’s your midnight snack craving or late-night snacking, there is a high possibility you have heard many tips and advice on whether eating before bedtime is good for your health or bad. After you have got tons of information on your late-night snacking habit, you may get curious to know its impact on your body and if it is a real health hazard.

Late-night snacking is when you take beverages or food after dinner or near your bedtime. These cravings are difficult to control and may be associated with numerous factors such as boredom, habit, hunger, unwinding before bedtime, or stress.

Unrequired to say, everybody loves to snack, and who is to blame? When the desire to snack knocks, it is difficult to curb it. But do you know why late-night snacking is bad? In this blog, I am going to cover the advantages of late-night snacking, its potential risk factors, and in what manner it impacts your body. From compromising your metabolism and energy levels to retaining healthy blood glucose levels, there is an extensive range of theories to it.

How Late Night Snacking Affects Your Health?

Sleep Disruption and Poor Sleep Quality

Researchers have reported that consuming a large amount of meals or sugary snacks around your bedtime can influence the quality of your sleep and may also result in frequent awakenings at night. Avoid caffeine, sugary foods, and high-calorie snacks before going to bed to improve your sleep.

Affects Your Metabolism

It is all about how the body regulates its insulin sensitivity. When you eat at night, the insulin in your body kicks up and stores it as fat.

Increased Risk of Chronic Diseases

If you have a habit of eating late at night, you are more likely to develop chronic diseases than people who follow a proper eating schedule. Obesity, diabetes, and heart conditions are the most common diseases that are experienced by eating before bed, and if you are taking rybelsus it will create adverse effects.

Digestive Issues

Depending on the quality and quantity of your meal, eating too late can escalate the risk of acid reflux, especially if you go to bed right after eating.

How to avoid late-night snacking?

You may find yourself consuming your late-night craving even when you are not hungry. Nighttime snacking can result in more calorie intake than you require which can make it tough for you to maintain a healthy body weight.

Typically, people are more inclined towards spicy, fried, oily foods, sugary candies, sugary beverages, or other high-calorie snacks such as potato chips, french fries, candy, cold drinks, or dessert items.

These are some of the unhealthiest choices, which quickly add up extra calories and result in weight gain over time. However, there are many ways explained below for you to try to prevent the late-night snacking habit.

Do not skip meals: Consume one or two healthy snacks per day and three square meals. Missing a single meal in a day can result in late-night hunger, and unhealthful snacking, and reduces your energy levels.

Drink plenty of water: Very few people know that your body can mix up hunger and thirst signals. For instance, if you feel hungry late at night, you can take a cup or two of water for quick hydration, which brings comfort to those hungry pangs. Dieticians suggest drinking 8 full glasses of water in a day.

Plan ahead for a healthy snack: Plan an hour after dinner to eat a healthy snack to avoid those late-night cravings and diminish the urge to binge eat. Do not always wait for the time when hunger hits. If you wait for that hunger pang, you are more likely to binge eat.

Keep unhealthy snacks out of sight: The theory of “out of sight, out of mind” can help you resist the urge to fulfill those midnight cravings. If there is any particular unhealthy snack that you crave, make sure to keep it out of your house, or better yet, just delete it from your grocery list.

Drink herbal tea: A teacup of hot herbal tea can make you feel full and sufficient to pass your time. Because it takes a while to complete a hot cup of tea, you will be satisfied and sidestep your craving for a snack.

Keep a food journal: Journalize your calorie consumption and eating patterns to prevent falling into the trick of a midnight craving. Documenting will assist you in being accountable for the foods you choose to consume. It can also detect your unhealthy eating habits that you, with the help of journaling, can be capable of improving and fixing.

Is it ever okay to eat before bed?

In the previous time, the idea that snacking before going to bed was bad was a well-known belief. It is believed that eating late at night can significantly contribute to weight gain and health-associated problems. Eating and sleeping are the two most important activities for your well-being and health. Sleep and food have a complex relationship with each other. The quality of sleep can affect what you choose to eat, and when you eat and what you eat can significantly influence your sleep quality.

Eating near your bedtime causes various health complications, and it also significantly affects the quality of life you live. Impaired digestion, gastroesophageal reflux, and weight gain are the most common health problems you are likely to experience if you have a habit of snacking after dinner or eating right before sleeping. However, newer studies are reporting a much more complicated image of late-night snacking. Modern evidence recommends that consuming a limited amount of healthy late-night meals at night can actually have a beneficial influence on your body.

What are the best healthy snacks to eat at night?

Next time you are standing in your kitchen thinking about what to snack on, make sure to look for food items that are rich in nutrients that are low in saturated fats and added sugars. It is suggested to focus on snacks or food items that are high in fiber and protein to promote satisfaction and avoid eating more than necessary. However, the best-case scenario is to avoid eating anything after dinner or around your bedtime. But this is also not always a realistic thing.

Sometimes maybe your work can keep you up late or a sleepover with friends or cousins is planned, or sometimes your eating schedule can get off track and you might need something. Though a full meal is not suggested around sleeping time, night snacks that are light are enough to resist your cravings late at night.

The best options for the late-night snacking problem are the ones that are light and easy to digest. Researchers have reported that the healthy bedtime snacks mentioned below are healthy, and you can eat them before sleeping.

• Kiwi
• Milk powder or milk
• Tart cherry juice
• Almonds, walnuts, and other nuts
• Apple
• 1 or 2 cups of air-popped popcorn
• Half a cup of Greek yogurt or use it as a dipping condiment for fruits
• Banana
• Goji berries
• Protein smoothie
• Hot cereal
• Whole grain cookies and crackers
• Trail mix
• Edamame
• Strawberries and brie

Conclusion

Though some researchers propose that the body can regulate contrarily during the day versus night, there is no certified scientific agreement on the best time to avoid eating. Some research indicates that late-night snacking can negatively affect your body weight and energy risk factors. However, the quantity and what you eat are just as essential.