Is night eating bad if you're within your calorie goal?

Talaysen

Not to pointlessly revive an old thread, however,
I was curious about this same thing, and when I should be eating meals, found a really good article that covers this topic:
http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/how-many-meals-a-day-when-how-often-should-you-eat/

Really useful information. I was always under the misconception that eating late at night was "terrible" for you, same as skipping breakfast.

I'm not a big breakfast person, food upsets my stomach first thing in the morning.
That article explains how it was assumed that, since many overweight people eat late at night or skip breakfast, it's an attributing factor to why they are overweight.

It explains the myths and misconceptions about metabolism, and how your eating affects it.
The overall concept is that the people who were overweight and skipped breakfast, or overweight and ate at night generally had other very poor eating habits that were the actual cause of the weight problems.

I've started to realize how much truth there is to that, now that I'm actually controlling what I eat.
I would skip breakfast, skip lunch, then around 3PM eat something, 4PM eat something, 7-8PM, 11 PM, and sometimes even around 2 or 3 AM.

The real issue was each of those "feedings" was roughly ~800 - 1200 calories per sitting.
Not to mention the additional calories from beer or wine, or worse (soda + whiskey).

marcenepea

Are they referring to people that overeat at night?

Yes, pretty much this. If you impose a rule that no eating should occur x amount of hours before bed the likelihood is the person will simply end up eating less overall through out the day. Many people tend to over eat in the evening.

If you stay within your calorie goals it makes no difference if you eat before bed, after bed, in bed, on the bed, under the bed....

I'm pretty sure if you eat under the bed the calories don't count. :blushing:

AbsoluteNG

It's true that eating late at night is bad for you but it applies only towards carbs. Eating carbs before you go to bed will reduce your HGH proteins.

anaquay

Glad you revived this thread because I've been pondering on this very subject. I've never been a morning eater and usually don't bother eating anything for about 4 to 6 hours after waking. I've been saving up for a juicer so I can get something down me in the mornings because I believed the hype about breakfast being so important. I've been staying under my calorie goal when I'm eating at night and I'm happy to know that this isn't a problem.

Thanks

Talaysen

Glad it was useful.

@AbsoluteNG - Could you provide something that definitely indicates that eating carbs before bed affects the release of human growth hormones? Everything I've read indicates that concept is a misconception based on incomplete information.

A good article on eating carbs at night:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/carbs-at-night-fat-loss-killer-or-imaginary-boogeyman.html

A much more scientific article, with actual hard data backing the conclusion:
http://nutridylan.com/2012/04/24/growth-hormone-and-nighttime-carbs-much-ado-about-nothing-12/

We'll jump straight to the 'Conclusion', review the data if you wish:

"The fact of the matter is that those who fear carbs at night are basing their fear off of one piece of information that holds little scientific backing. Hopefully by now I’ve convinced you that GH regulation is a complex system with many factors that each plays a role. To say that carbs at night will reduce the capacity to build muscle is completely ludacris and unfounded – that is unless that meal is part of a diet which comprises 175% of your daily needs. So, in the end, there is no scientific evidence whatsoever to suggest that carbs consumed at night will reduce one’s goal of gaining muscle, and I doubt there ever will be. The main thing to keep in mind is that there is much more to building muscle than splitting-hairs. The people who care the most about this stuff are the ones who should care the least, and those who capitulate to stupid misinformation like that are worse off than they were when they knew nothing at all. If you learned nothing, remember this:

Lift heavy, eat right, rest up, and most importantly don’t concern yourself with trivial aspects of dieting that are at best speculative and at worst completely false. Dichotomous thinking never did anyone any good. Ever."

TL;DR

If you don't have solid data backing up your ideas, it's what we call 'Broscience'.
Spreading incorrect info causes people to form bad habits.