Woohoooo! Off for my late night snack! I love this site! A lot of great info. So glad I found you! :D
As I sit here and type this, the time reads 11:06 PM. And you know what? I’m eating.
*Gasp*
What?? Eating after 7 PM?! Yes, I know, I’m breaking the rules.
But frankly, that’s what I do.
When rules don’t make sense to me, I simply choose not to follow them (unless, of course, those “rules” are “laws”…not really into the whole illegal activity thing).
But as far as the whole “no eating after 7” nonsense goes, I break that one just about every day.
And so should you.
Here’s why:
Well, first, let me just say that most general rules of thumb in the fitness world are oversimplifications, and the whole “Don’t eat after X o’clock” is no exception.
The recommendation is based on the idea that metabolism slows in the evening hours as you prepare for bed, and eating during this time should be avoided so as not to have those calories stored as fat.
A good premise, but again, oversimplified.
What we really want to avoid in the evening are foods that give rise to insulin, specifically carbohydrates, and for several reasons.
First, when blood insulin levels rise, fat burning takes a dive and a “storage” environment is created within the body. This is a good thing after exercise or after an overnight fast to allow the body to “refuel”, but not so good when metabolism is falling off in the evening hours.
Secondly, something called insulin sensitivity drops drastically in the evening, which simply means that your body is not as responsive to insulin at night as it is during the day. When insulin sensitivity is low, carbohydrates are easily stored as fat.
Needless to say, we can see why eating carbohydrates late at night isn’t a smart move, but that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t eat anything.
So, what should you eat to curb late-night cravings and support muscle tissue maintenance as you sleep? Simple: a small meal consisting of mostly slow digesting protein and fibrous green veggies within a couple hours of bed works best.
Animal protein (chicken, fish, beef, etc) are great choices for a late night meal, as is something like cottage cheese. Both digest slowly over time, providing a mild, but steady influx of nutrients to muscle throughout the night, all while not interfering with your insulin levels.
Or maybe I’m just a rebel who doesn’t know what the heck he’s talking about? ;-)
Got a favorite late night meal or snack? Agree? Disagree?
Drop the comments below!
Joel
P.S. Want to up your nutrition IQ even more? Watch this video from my good friend Isabel where she reveals 4 other “healthly” foods that you should NEVER eat, along with her TOP 5 foods for a flat belly:
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You should read Eat Stop Eat
I like your point- I was always told “never eat after 7…” but what you wrote does make sense, could you give me more options though of food ‘allowed’ after 7? Are fruits ok? nuts,almonds? pretzels? popcorn?
My all-time favorite late night snack (midnight or so) is a banana with peanut butter. Good or not so good….or down right bad?
finally an expert who agrees ive been doing this my whole building career and when i didnt i would have to get up in the middle of the night and eat and didnt see the same results
so thank you for this great post
I’ve heard before. Makes sense to me. If I don’t eat something later after dinner, I’m starving in the am. I have to remember it’s OK to eat! I just have to choose something besides buttered popcorn :(
that’s very informative. I LIKE having more knowledge.
Cottage cheese is easy, but what do you just eat a piece of chicken on it’s own?
louise;)
That makes alot of sense!!
a good thing to know, no need to deprive :)
Yep I agree with that and don’t like to hear the mindless “it’s not good to eat after x o’clock” which I actually heard just today. But if I asked that person a simple “Why?” I would get either a blank stare a “I heard it, it’s true” or some really stupid answer proving that that person has no idea what he/she is talking about. The only thing however I would recommend is that an hour or two pass between your last meal and zzzzz, that way you will have more energy in the morning cos if you eat like 5 min before going to bed your body will use some energy to digest and absorb the food. Plus you don’t really use muscle for fuel while you sleep but rather fat. There are a lot of proofs of this in studies, especially because you don’t use your muscles for movement while you sleep therefore you are not using your muscles glycogen stores. So I don’t agree that you will lose muscle in your sleepjust because you didn’t eat for several hours, heh trust me I tested this.
I’ve yet to have a problem with late night eating . I maintain weight and have found that I sleep deeper and more restful with food in my system . I do some protein and yogurt if all I need is something really light….
I often use a protein shake before bed. Even quick absorbing protein like whey is great to raise nitrogen environment in the body.
this not new think, in the Bodybuilding world this has been know for long time.
if you take Glutamine or HMB before bed time this will help with muscle loss, plus not sure with Protein shake to take-Casein or Soya as they are slow release protein, also from the Bodybuilding world you can mix Protein shake & leve it by your bed & when you wake to go tolet, you down the Protein shake at the same time & keep the muscle loss to a =
I agree with John O. – I sleep much better on a full stomach. I’ll lay awake for hours if my stomach is growling. My favorite late-night meal is a bowl of (granola) cereal. Plus, I’ve read that drinking milk before bedtime helps satiate appetite, in addition to its health benefits. Is that true?
i make a shake out of GNC pm protein. i just use two scoops, a little water and ice, and sip on it about an hour before bedtime. i’m not starving when i wake up for breakfast!
My after 7pm snack is a large hand full of raw almonds or raw pumpkin seeds. This always prevents me from waking up in the middle of the night hungry. On the night of heavy squat or dead lift workouts I will also make a shake with Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard 100% casein; this is a slow digesting protein.
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...