Don't eat carbs after....????

willis84

I've been told to not eat carbs after 5pm. Why is this?

gemiwing

If you have trouble controlling grazing at night and end up going over your cal limit- then sure, cut yourself off. Otherwise- no proven benefit.

Awkward30

Because people like to make up arbitrary rules. Iirc the real guideline is that you aren't supposed to eat carbs while riding a unicorn.

vingogly

It's not carbs, it's late consumption of food in general that *might* be an issue. But how much of an issue it is, isn't clear. See:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21527892

Note that this abstract doesn't address the relative contribution of late eating as a factor in obesity vs. the other factors mentioned: late sleeping, fast food consumption. And the abstract says late eating "may increase the risk" of obesity ... not that late eating of anything is a sure path to fat. I personally find mindless eating in front of the TV is the real culprit for me ... I try to plan my snacks and their timing.