Working overtime or going home in the middle of the night after chatting with colleagues for several rounds are all the reasons for the disaster of dining at night. In fact, chewing when the moon comes out may be worse for your waistline than you think. A new study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine found that eating late at night, rather than during the day, increases your risk of becoming a victim of weight gain, and increases insulin, fasting blood glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides levels, which are a precursor to a range of avoidable diseases.
To reach this conclusion, nine normal weight adults ate for eight consecutive weeks during the day (8 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and from 12 noon to 11 p.m. for the other eight weeks. In both eating conditions, all participants slept from 11 p.m. to 9 a.m. The researchers measured body weight, metabolism and energy expenditure before and after the experiment to record any changes.
The team found that people who ate late at night not only gained weight, but also metabolized more carbohydrates than lipids. In addition, because daytime eaters’ ghrelin peak earlier in the day and leptin peak later in the day, the researchers believe that eating when the sun comes out may prevent children from overeating before going to bed.
“While lifestyle change is never easy, these findings suggest that eating earlier in the day may be worth the effort to help prevent these detrimental chronic health effects,” said Dr. Kelly Allison, senior author of the study, an associate professor of psychology in Psychiatry and director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders. “We have an extensive knowledge of how overeating affects health and body weight, but now we have a better understanding of how our body processes foods at different times of day over a long period of time. ” So the next time you hear your stomach grunting under the sheets, eat a healthy low calorie snack, like popcorn or take this #1 Best Thing To Eat For Better Sleep.
