First, let's please everyone: the idea that you can't eat after six can be considered morally outdated. Modern nutritionists have amended this “law,” because many of us get home no earlier than eight, and go to bed around twelve. Therefore, dinner can easily be at 8 or even 9 pm, the main thing is that the last meal occurs 2-3 hours before bedtime. Another important point: an ideal evening meal should consist of protein products (poultry fillet, fish, cottage cheese). And then you won’t have to worry about excess weight.
But nightly trips to the refrigerator are a different story. Whether you had dinner with a piece of boiled fish with a salad of fresh cucumbers or feasted on an impressive steak with a side dish of fried potatoes, you can still feel hungry before going to bed and find yourself in front of the treasured door in the kitchen. Why is this happening? There may be several reasons for this.
Reason #1
You are really hungry. Because in the morning, being late for work, we just drank a cup of coffee, had a light salad or sandwich for lunch, then had a cup of tea with colleagues and, in fact, that’s all. That is, dinner, in fact, was the only full meal for the whole day, and the body clearly did not receive not only less calories, but also valuable nutrients. That is why he demands “compensation” from you.
What to do: Eat throughout the day. More often is better than less often. And, of course, not fast food.
Reason #2
Active sports in the afternoon. After training, the body needs to restore its reserves. If it was very intense, the nutrients received from a regular dinner may not be enough, and after an hour or two the person will feel hungry. You should not ignore it, otherwise the body will begin to eat itself, the muscles will not increase in volume, and the morning will begin with a feeling of deep fatigue.
What to do: Eat. Even an hour before bedtime. But only protein products: boiled fish or chicken fillet, cottage cheese, seafood.
Reason #3
Problems with the digestive organs. If you regularly experience before bed not just a desire to snack, but intense hunger, even pain in the pit of your stomach, then you should make an appointment with a gastroenterologist. Such symptoms may indicate gastritis or even the initial stage of a peptic ulcer.
What to do: As stated above, go to the doctor.
Reason #4
Stress. This is perhaps the most common “culprit” for looking into the refrigerator at night. Very often, due to stressful situations, people try to relieve tension with food, as a result of which a person not only gets full, but overeats. To be honest, this approach is rooted in childhood: probably, each of us was consoled by our mother with candy after falling off a bicycle or other troubles. The habit took hold, and now the grown-up girl, after a quarrel with her lover, sits by the refrigerator with a piece of cake in her hands. Why does this happen just before bedtime? Because in the evening, as you know, all problems are perceived in an exaggerated way, and that same stressful hunger arises that prevents you from falling asleep.
What to do: Get rid of stress in other ways.
Pistachios
Nuts are a very tasty, nutritious and, most importantly, satisfying product. If you are woken up in the middle of the night by a feeling of hunger and you just can’t fall asleep, then it’s worth snacking on them. However, not all nuts are suitable. After midnight, it is best to opt for pistachios - they are lower in calories than their “brothers”. Just 30 grams of pistachios will be enough to satisfy your hunger.
Vegetable products
So what foods can you eat in unlimited quantities, without fear of gaining weight or not losing previously gained kilograms? First of all, these are celery, arugula, lettuce.
The energy value of celery is 16 kilocalories per 100 grams of product, which is very little. The main component of the product is water, which is about 95% in celery. In addition, it contains about 30% of the total daily requirement of vitamin K needed by the body. To experience the full benefits of celery, you need to try to buy only fresh specimens of the plant, since 5 days after cutting, celery loses a large percentage of its beneficial qualities.
Arugula contains only 10 kilocalories, which can only be obtained by eating more than one cup of this plant. This is a real product that can be eaten in unlimited quantities. In addition, low-calorie salads can be prepared using arugula by adding low-fat cheese and olive oil to the plant.
Lettuce leaves are rich in vitamin-mineral complex, so their consumption can and should be a source of useful substances for those who want to lose weight. Diet foods can be poor in components such as folic acid, vitamins A, iron. And the salad contains all this in high concentration. At the same time, there are practically no calories in the salad, which makes the plant quite suitable for consumption without any restrictions.
Next on the list of foods that can be eaten in unlimited quantities are cucumbers, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli and peas.
Cucumbers, similar to celery, contain practically only water, and therefore have no calorie content. At the same time, young vegetables are more useful. Cucumbers must be consumed with the skin, as it is a source of large amounts of essential beta-carotene.
The content of 18 kilocalories per 100 grams of weight of tomatoes is more than compensated for by folic acid, fiber, chromium, potassium, vitamins A, C, and lycoptin contained in their composition. Therefore, they can be eaten not only by amateurs, but also by all those who want to lose weight without compromising their psychological state.
Raw cauliflower is a storehouse of vitamins C and K. The calorie content of the product is only 25 kilocalories. This vegetable can also be consumed cooked, but raw it has more benefits for the body. In addition, when tasting cauliflower, you fill up much faster than eating other healthy foods, and the feeling of fullness lasts longer after it.
As for the beloved vegetable broccoli, its vitamin component is truly impressive - vitamins A, C, , I, K, 20% of the coarse fiber needed per day for a person - all this is contained in broccoli with a calorie content of 34 kilocalories per 100 grams of product .
The list of vegetable products that can be eaten in unlimited quantities would be incomplete without mentioning green peas. It is low in calories, but rich in essential proteins and fiber, which are the basis of nutrition in most popular diets.
Natural yogurt with berries
It is safe to say that natural yogurt will not cause increased appetite within a few minutes after eating it. It does not contain artificial sweeteners, which are responsible for this effect. But there are quite a lot of vitamins and minerals in such a product. In addition, natural yogurt belongs to the category of low-calorie products. If you want, you can add a handful of berries to it.
What are the reasons for night hunger?
The main reason for hunger at night is irregular eating. Eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time and not having snacks in between affects the process of digesting food so that the secretion of gastric juice begins immediately before eating. People who follow a diet do not experience night hunger.
An overly strict diet often leads to people feeling very hungry at night.
The desire to lose excess weight leads to the fact that a person limits himself in food by force of will.
A strict diet is the cause of night hunger.
In the evening, control mechanisms weaken, and the stress caused by restrictions and the need to constantly control oneself contributes to a sharp increase in the feeling of hunger before bed and even during the night.
The need to eat at night also arises as a consequence of chronic stress. Problems at work, family conflicts, fatigue and depression lead to the fact that eating becomes a way to rest and relax. In this case, it is difficult to fight night hunger; you need to look for the deep psychological reasons for its occurrence and eliminate them.
There are also medical reasons for night hunger. They are mainly hormonal in nature.
Lack of melatonin, serotonin and dopamine, excess adrenaline and cortisol in the body lead to various metabolic disorders. In this case, the desire to overeat at night may be a symptom of a concomitant disease of the endocrine system.
Dried fruits
Dried fruits are a real salvation for those with a sweet tooth. Indeed, often in impulses of late-night overeating, the choice falls on sweets (cookies, candies, chocolate bars) and other fast food products that do not require preparation. Dried fruits are low in calories and retain all the beneficial substances of fresh fruits. Dried apricots, raisins, prunes - choose what you like best.
Worst Product Options
The worst option for a late-night snack is beef.
This type of meat is the most difficult and takes a long time to digest, which means that eating it late in the evening can lead to fermentation in the intestines and bloating. In addition, beef contains amino acids that stimulate brain function, so sleep problems are likely. Sweets, chocolate and ice cream, like any other sweets, are also best eaten during the daytime. Eating sugar contributes to a sharp rise in blood glucose levels, which means increased stress on the pancreas, which is undesirable at night.
It is harmful to eat various snacks before bed - chips, crackers, seeds, etc. They contain large amounts of salt, pepper and various food additives. This leads to the person experiencing extreme thirst or heartburn throughout the night. The same applies to instant noodles, canned soups and French fries.
Foods prohibited before bedtime.
Pasta is considered a popular late-night meal. However, due to the high content of carbohydrates and starch, they create too much stress on the gastrointestinal tract, so you should not consume them before bed (especially with additives - cheese, sauces, etc.).
Another popular evening dish is pizza. It contains almost all products that are undesirable for consumption in the evening. Dough, tomato sauce, smoked sausage, mushrooms are difficult to digest individually, and in combination they lead to additional stress on the digestive system.
2 hours before bedtime, you should avoid foods with a diuretic effect - cranberries, watermelon, eggplants, etc.
A glass of green tea with honey and lemon
At night, drinks satisfy your hunger just as well as more nutritious snacks. This is not a full meal, and your body does not need a whole portion of hearty food. A glass of green tea will do a great job of filling your hungry stomach. Add honey and lemon to it, and the positive effect will increase several times at once. This drink is also very calming, so the likelihood that after it you will fall asleep in a sweet dream is quite high.
Are late-night snacks harmful if you're working out and counting your calories?
To find the answer to this question, let's look at a study described in the Journal of Nutrition. The subjects performed resistance and strength exercises combined with a strict diet. Participants ate 70% of their daily calories either at breakfast or at night.
Results? Both groups lost the same amount of body fat, but the people who ate in the evening retained the most muscle !
CONCLUSION
Again, calories are calories when it comes to weight loss, but a healthy late-night snack can help you maintain lean muscle mass while calories are in short supply.
Late night snacking can also be beneficial for recovery and development of lean muscle mass.
TIPS TO NOTE
- We are all unique and therefore there is no one-size-fits-all advice. Work out the most suitable time and frequency of meals for you, and if eating at night fits into your eating schedule - include it in the regime!
- If you are trying to build muscle or are on a diet and want to minimize muscle loss, then a healthy evening snack is recommended.
- If a late-night snack doesn't fit into your ideal eating schedule or doesn't fit into your diet, then ask yourself: why are you eating? Are you really hungry? Or maybe you are bored or stressed? Do you eat because you often have to attend various events, cafes with friends and you feel uncomfortable refusing (so-called social eating), or do you use food as an excuse to 'reward' yourself for something? Think about this before you allow yourself to eat too much.
- If you are a late-night snacker, try to minimize the total amount of calories you consume at night, staying within 200-300 calories.
- Try to ensure that your main evening meal does not occur after 20:00, although for some this is not always possible. If you regularly eat after 8pm, then eating less for breakfast will help minimize the potential damage that could be done to your figure.
- Make sure your evening meal includes protein, ideally a 'slow digesting' protein.
- You don't have to limit carbohydrates, but you should choose minimally processed and low-sugar carbohydrate sources and not exceed your daily carbohydrate allowance.
- If you're limiting carbohydrates in the evening, make sure you include a small amount of healthy fat in your evening meal along with protein. Healthy fats will help slow down the breakdown of proteins and ensure a continuous and even flow of amino acids into your muscles during the night.
- Protein puddings, protein bars, slow-release protein shakes, nuts and nut butters can be great evening snacks that won't make you feel guilty about eating them. It’s easy: take it and eat it... and it’s delicious too!
Three recipes for quick and healthy snacks:
Why do we eat at night?
Always want to eat something before bed? There may be two reasons. “First of all, the issue may be related to the incorrect distribution of the multiplicity of the diet during the day and its caloric intake,” explains Natalya. - If there are fewer calories in the first half of the day than in the second to meet energy needs, the body will lose control and require food in the evening. If, in addition, the choice of foods in the evening is incorrect and you give preference to carbohydrates, the desire to eat something at night will be greater.
The second reason is incorrect sleep rhythms. Not going to bed on time can lead to overeating at night. A large number of stress factors suffered the day before will provoke nighttime rises of 3-4 hours, associated with an increase in cortisol and the desire to eat something at this time.”
What foods should you exclude from your evening diet?
Insulin interferes with the synthesis of somatotropin, which is why in the afternoon you should exclude simple carbohydrates that cause a spike in blood sugar. Do you have fruit at night, flour products, sweets? They harm hormone production in the evening. Even the healthiest carbohydrates—banana, peach, couscous, pumpkin, or whole grain pasta—will inevitably lead to weight gain if consumed late at night. Milk and dairy products, red meat, and starchy vegetables also have a high insulin index and will not promote weight loss (more about protein for the body).
