Eating At Night - Share Your Links

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peaceout_aly
peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Okay, so a calorie in is a calorie in regardless of when eaten. If you eat at night, it's okay, as long as it fits within your calorie allotment and macros for the day. I have lived by this for forever, and have heard countless people say it on the MFP boards. My S.O. and a bunch of people refuse to believe me, and when doing my internet research all I can find is that by eating after 7PM you're increasing acid reflux, decreasing sleep, etc. Share your opinions, and preferably links to research stating the "timing doesn't matter - calorie in = calorie in regardless of time" information. Thanks!

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  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    But when they "refuse to believe you", what is it exactly that they are refuting? You can't lose weight if you eat late at night? You gain weight if you eat late at night?

    I had this fight with a very competent friend of mine. She sent me studies done on mice. I felt stupid because I couldn't digest the information very well but finally I realized, there was no mention of the mice being in a consistent calorie deficit. If i can't find it I'll post it here.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    Okay found them. As I said. I think the friend who disagreed with me is so smart. I was ashamed I couldn't make much of these studies but it's been a few years. She argues that "the body's ability to metabolize is strictly dependent on time of day. 400 calories at 3pm is completely different than 400 calories at 9pm...the body, even though calorically it makes sense, differs in terms of its processing abilities based on time of day."

    If anyone reads these and wants to provide cliffs that'd be awesome.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25707277
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25665169
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25711020
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25707276
  • fuzzylop72
    fuzzylop72 Posts: 651 Member
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    https://examine.com/nutrition/does-eating-at-night-make-it-more-likely-to-gain-weight/ summarizes the science pretty well.
  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
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    bbell1985 wrote: »
    But when they "refuse to believe you", what is it exactly that they are refuting? You can't lose weight if you eat late at night? You gain weight if you eat late at night?

    I had this fight with a very competent friend of mine. She sent me studies done on mice. I felt stupid because I couldn't digest the information very well but finally I realized, there was no mention of the mice being in a consistent calorie deficit. If i can't find it I'll post it here.

    They say that it sets you back and you gain more weight if you consume those calories at night versus during the daytime hours. And they actually mentioned the study about mice which is why I was on such a mission to prove them wrong! LOL
  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
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    gearfreegains wrote: »
    Im one of those who CAN’T fall asleep if I’m hungry. No increased acid reflux over hear, either. On the contrary my heartburn has virtually gone now that I’m eating healthier. And my weight is still going down even though I eat right before bed.


    I am the same way. I eat a little bit throughout the day but for some reason I'm never hungry until like 7PM or so. If I fall asleep hungry I wake up EVIL hahaha
  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
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    PAV8888 wrote: »
    https://www.precisionnutrition.com/nutrient-timing (TL;dr nutrient timing doesn't matter for most people)

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3070624/ (TL;dr small meals more often may be better, sometimes, but no-body knows for sure whether this applies to YOU because, LOOK, these guys here say that 3 meals a day are possibly better for you in terms of a higher RMR and better appetite control: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3374835/)

    TL;dr: if eating a particular way enhances ADHERENCE TO YOUR CALORIC GOALS, THAT more than anything will determine success for YOU. Much more so than any timing related optimisation benefit.

    Now, if eating a good breakfast in the morning and having some nice carbs and protein before and after your workouts and nothing after 8pm suits you well... more the power to you! If it suited me, I would do it in a heart-beat and yes, I've seen a couple of studies that provide support for such a WOE.

    But, you know what... that schedule doesn't work for me at all, so here I am muddling along eating ~40% of my calories around midnight... and not exactly considering myself an abject failure.

    Oh I totally agree that if it works for people to eat before 8PM and helps them stick to their goals to split stuff up into 3 meals x day, etc. that they should surely follow what method suits them best. But that doesn't mean that those, like us, who eat a large portion of their calories late night are going to suddenly witness a massive weight gain because of late night consumption. It's just how we adhere to our calorie deficit (even though I'm more at maintenance, but still have to stay within maintenance in order to not gain..you know the jist LOL)

    Thanks for sharing! Greatly appreciate it!
  • oilphins
    oilphins Posts: 240 Member
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    I've also been told over the years that you should have no carbs or eat anything big after say 8 or 9pm. I find it hard to believe you would gain any weight eating after 9 if your calorie intake daily is say 1500 and you've only had 1100 up to 9 that day and decide you want a bowl of cereal or toast before bed. I've heard your calorie intake is a 24 hour turn around and not certain times of the day when you should or shouldn't eat. My calorie intake daily is 1800 and at least three days a week if I'm at 1600 closer to bed time, I will have toast with a teaspoon of peanut butter, or a bowl of cereal, or say maybe a small portion of baked lays chips before bed and I haven't gained any weight at all. Everyone is different and do what works for you. I love how these so called experts tell us not to eat after a certain time and that makes a difference. So if you ingest 4000 calories during the day every day but don't eat after 9pm, your going to lose weight? Don't think so.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    There are always going to be certain people that no matter how much research you show them, they will always believe certain things. At the end of the day, I just keep doing what I'm doing.. clearly the results speak for themselves. If my SO ever said that eating late was causing weight gain, I'd be like, um... look at me? haha
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
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    For me personally I cannot eat late at night, the weight does not come off even if I exercise.
    My cut off time to eat is 6 pm.
    I have started to weigh myself every day and not eat after 6 pm and finally the weight is shifting.
    For the first time I am now in the high 180s and slowly going down.
    You have to know your body and this is what works for me regardless of what others say and think.

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