Sweets addiction. How to get off the sugar needle

Sweets at night - good or bad?

Testing your willpower is very simple - you just need to offer you a piece of cake or a chocolate bar before bed. But. Is it worth fighting temptations? Maybe the consequences are not as harmful as we thought before? Is it possible to eat sweets at night? Below you will find arguments for and against - decide which side you're on!
Testing your willpower is very simple - you just need to offer you a piece of cake or a chocolate bar before bed. But. Is it worth fighting temptations? Maybe the consequences are not as harmful as we thought before? Is it possible to eat sweets at night? Below you will find arguments for and against - decide which side you're on!

Benefit: Uplifting mood

Harm: Adds weight

Benefit: Brain food

Did you know that dark chocolate increases IQ levels? It occupies a leading position among products that affect brain activity. But keep in mind that chocolate must be bitter - milk chocolate contains excess fats, and on the contrary they interfere with concentration. Generally speaking, brain cells feed on glucose - they need about 100 g every day. It seems that excess carbohydrates will not always be superfluous if an exam or report is coming up.

Harm: Danger to teeth

Since you’re too lazy to brush your teeth after dinner, don’t be surprised when they start to hurt. The fact is that sweets cause fermentation , leading to damage to tooth enamel and caries. Of course, not only sugar takes part in this process, but its systematic use clearly increases the risk of acquiring a collection of fillings over time.

Benefit: The secret of youth

Children are usually not shy about admitting their love for sweets. With adults, the situation is more complicated: for some reason, there are much fewer sweet tooths among them. Ladies, however, are allowed a little weakness in the form of sweets or chocolate. And it is right! Those women who do not deny themselves sweets are less susceptible to the process of withering! Carbohydrates help replenish estrogen levels , which become increasingly deficient as we age. And honey, prunes, raisins and dark chocolate are valuable sources of antioxidants .

Harm: Strength Test

All nature is resting, and your pancreas is working, producing insulin - this is what happens at night if you snack on something sweet before bed (which, moreover, is often fatty). In addition, when blood glucose levels are persistently high, the walls of blood vessels may become damaged. Therefore, if you have diabetes, high cholesterol or other health conditions, be sure to discuss with your doctor the acceptable amount of sweets in your diet.

As you can see, you should be careful when eating sweets at night, and, of course, you shouldn’t turn it into a nightly ritual. It’s good if your lifestyle includes not only gastronomic pleasures, but also full-fledged physical activity. Then the extra calories will find work, and those who have worked hard during the day will sleep much better!

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Is it possible to eat sweets before bed?

Even in the first half of the day, sweets, especially in large quantities, should be treated with caution, and even more so late in the evening. Most nutritionists unanimously say that while remaining faithful to pastries, cakes and sweets, you should not even dream of a beautiful, slender figure and a healthy body. But is this really so? Is it possible to eat sweets at night if you really want to, or will such a habit really cause a lot of harm to the body? Let's try to figure it out.

Red meat

I don't recommend you eat any meat before bed because it takes too long to digest. Well, red meat, especially canned meat, is a really bad choice for a late-night snack. Red meat is, figuratively speaking, packed to the brim with fats and proteins, which actually isn't that bad—if you eat it during the day. By eating red meat before bed, you give your body a lot of work to do for the whole night - instead of resting, it will be busy digesting, giving you a gurgling stomach, discomfort, and even indigestion. So, if you don’t want to toss and turn half the night, listening to the churning in your stomach, spare your body - eat healthy food at night. In addition, red meat increases insulin production, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, so it is better not to eat it at all in the evenings. If you want to eat something filling at night, eat a hard-boiled egg. It is much healthier than red meat.

What are the disadvantages

Why can’t you eat sweets before bed when you really want to treat yourself to something tasty at the end of a hard day at work? The first and main reason is rapid weight gain.

Foods high in sugar are pure carbohydrates that the body needs to replenish energy reserves.

During the daytime, when it is actively consumed, calories received from sweets are burned. Therefore, even nutritionists see nothing wrong with treating yourself to dessert between breakfast and lunch, of course, within reasonable limits. It’s another matter if a person ate sweets and cookies with a cup of sweet tea before going to bed. At night, glucose is consumed to a minimum, which means that the excess will be stored in reserve, settling in the form of fat deposits on the waist, sides and thighs.

Is there any benefit

If you enjoy sweets a little and not every day, even before bed they can benefit the body. For example, increase the level of serotonin in the blood, relieving the worries that have accumulated during the day, preventing you from falling asleep peacefully. And also feed your brain cells with glucose if you need to finish things late in the evening that cannot be put off until the morning.

Brain activity noticeably decreases if the sugar obtained from food during the day is not enough to support brain function.

Therefore, when you have to finish a work report or study for an exam before going to bed, a small dessert will come in handy. And it is doubly useful for women to treat themselves to something sweet from time to time, because carbohydrates replenish the reserves of estrogen - the hormone of beauty and youth.

The least and most harmful sweet foods before bed

What primarily determines the benefits and harms of eating sweets at night? Of course, it depends on the serving size: treating yourself to one candy before bed is not at all the same as eating a dozen or two. And it also depends on what kind of sweetness the choice fell on. Dessert is different from dessert: the body can easily cope with one even late in the evening, while the other can cause problems with the gastrointestinal tract, insomnia and weight gain.

What to do if the desire to eat sweets shortly before bed has become irresistible? It is best in such a situation to give preference to such sweets as:

Is it possible to eat marshmallows before bed? If the dessert is of high quality, it will not contain a single gram of fat, which means that even in the evening it will not cause significant harm to your figure and health. The main thing is to buy only white marshmallows, without dyes, the naturalness of which can be questioned, and chocolate icing made with cheap palm oil.

What sweets should you absolutely not eat shortly before bedtime? The most harm will come from the following products:

And, of course, first of all, you should avoid pure sugar, trying not to add it to drinks and food in the afternoon. This is absolute glucose, calories in their pure form, without a hint of vitamins, minerals and proteins. Therefore, the less time left before bed, the further into the cupboard you need to push the sugar bowl, protecting the health and beauty of the body.

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Coffee and everything coffee

Coffee, coffee ice cream, coffee candy, and basically anything that contains caffeine is a bad choice for a bedtime snack. If you eat something from this list before bed, you will stay awake at least a little longer, and it will be much more difficult for you to fall asleep. And even if you do fall asleep, caffeine may well wake you up in the middle of the night and leave you feeling terrible the next morning. I know, you can object to me by saying that you are used to drinking a cup of coffee every night before going to bed, and after that you sleep just fine. But how do you feel in the morning after this? Sleepy, tired and without the desire to do anything? You may think that coffee has absolutely nothing to do with it, but I have bad news for you - it very much has to do with it, unless you are sick. So, if you want to get enough sleep and avoid health problems, stay away from coffee. At least before bed.

Sweets at night - good or bad?

Benefit: Uplifting mood

Harm: Adds weight

Benefit: Brain food

Harm: Danger to teeth

Ice cream

I am more than sure that most of my readers love ice cream. Yes, I adore him myself. However, unfortunately, ice cream, like medals, has two sides. Ice cream perfectly calms us down and can quickly cheer us up even on the darkest day, but if it occurs to you to eat ice cream before bed, you should know that the thought that came into your head is clearly not the best. Eating ice cream before bed is a bad idea even if you want to gain weight. Any ice cream is chock-full of fats, which, like all fats, are digested rather slowly, and there is also a lot of sugar, which, as you already know, causes nightmares and can keep you up all night. Yes, the taste of ice cream is simply super, but the consequences of eating it at night are absolutely terrible. If you want something milky for the night, forget about ice cream. Instead, drink a glass of regular unsweetened milk. Yes, it is not nearly as tasty as ice cream, but it is much healthier and healthier.

What is healthy to eat at night and what is harmful: advice from nutritionists

Hunger does not depend on the time of day and can sometimes strike late in the evening. Instead of going to bed, we go to the refrigerator. Ice cream or chips can fill you up and bring you pleasure, but in the morning you feel guilty about what you ate at night. But this doesn’t mean you have to starve, say nutritionists interviewed by HuffPost [1].

A number of scientists agree that fat deposition is influenced not only by the caloric content of dishes, but also by the time of day, although this theory has not yet been fully studied.

Bread

If you're trying to gain a few pounds, you can eat as much bread as you want at night. But if you're on a diet and want to lose weight, stay away from it, especially before bed. My friend wanted to gain some weight. In just a month, she gained as much as 5 kilograms, and all she did for this was eat a sandwich every day for a month before bed. Bread is almost entirely carbohydrates and contains yeast, which means it not only causes your body to gain weight, but also leaves you hungry - meaning you may well get up in the middle of the night and make another raid on the fridge. But even if you are trying to gain weight, you should not stuff yourself with sandwiches from morning to evening. There are plenty of healthy ways to gain weight, and eating bread is not one of them. Instead of making yourself another sandwich, make yourself some oatmeal. Oatmeal is also a source of carbohydrates, but unlike sandwiches, it won't make you puff up like a balloon.

Is it possible to eat before bed?

According to Jonathan Valdez, a representative of the New York State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the last meal should be a couple of hours before bedtime so that the food has time to digest. Night is the time when the body slows down its metabolism, and this is the main reason why you should choose light food in the evening. And it's not just about possible fat deposition. If your body doesn't have time to digest food before you go to bed, your sleep will be negatively affected.

Feeling hungry late in the evening may be a sign that you're not eating well enough during the day, says nutritionist Amy Gorin. She advises eating or snacking every 3 to 5 hours and being more mindful of your breakfast. It should be high in calories, with sufficient fiber and protein. You need to make sure that other meals are also balanced and provide the body with enough fuel. Gorin believes that you should not neglect snacks, because they are suitable for quick snacks at work and help not to overeat during the subsequent full meal. The main thing is to snack when you really want to eat.

Nutritionist Alice Ramsey insists that if you feel hungry, you should definitely eat - no matter what time of day. However, she notes that the desire to eat something late in the evening does not always come from our stomach. Often, a late-night snack is the body's response to stress, emotional distress, habit, or even boredom. Ramsey calls for a conscious approach to nutrition and every time asking the question: is this really physical hunger?

At the same time, experts note that recognizing hunger that arises as a result of an emotional outburst and coping with it is difficult, but important. Gorin advises in this case to replace the snack with a walk or light workout. According to Ramsey, it is imperative to work with “emotional” hunger and try to eliminate the cause of stress. Or at least try to switch from food to something that can lift your mood - for example, watching a comedy.

What foods can be eaten at night

Nutritionist Rebecca Ditkoff suggests fighting non-physical hunger with a special drink: add turmeric and cinnamon to herbal tea or almond milk. If your body really needs a late-night snack, the expert advises using protein foods, such as half a cup of Greek yogurt, combined with healthy fats (1/4 cup nuts or a quarter of an avocado) and smart carbohydrates (high-fiber whole grains). ).

Particular attention should be paid to carbohydrates, because they contribute to the production of insulin, which, in turn, helps tryptophan increase melatonin levels in the brain. This leads to quick falling asleep and sound sleep. The combination of carbohydrates and protein helps reduce hormones that cause hunger, so your body stays full before you wake up, says Ramsey.

Too much fruit

Most people think that eating a few fruits before bed is a very correct and good thing to do, and I'm not saying that it's bad - as long as you do it in moderation, of course. But too much fruit means too much sugar, and you already know the consequences of too much sugar at night. In addition, sugar begins to be digested in your gastrointestinal tract first, often releasing gas, which harms your digestion and can be very painful. If you don't want to give up fruit at night, eat a small amount first and see how you feel afterwards. But in any case, it is not recommended to eat more than one cup of fruit at night. It is much healthier and more correct to eat a small amount of fruits or berries at night in combination with some healthy food. For example, my favorite quick snack is Greek yogurt with frozen fruit. And sometimes I eat some fruit and nuts, which is also healthy and does not interfere with sleep.