Eat after 7/8 a Health Habit Waste of Time?

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LMP1979
LMP1979 Posts: 54 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I would have liked to see a little more scientific backing to this, but what are your thoughts????




http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/health-habits-waste-time/story?id=16603893

"Health Habits That Are a Waste of Time"

Don't Eat After 8 P.M.

Calories can't tell time. There's no difference between the 6:30 a.m. and 8:20 p.m. kinds, says Susan Bowerman, M.S., R.D., assistant director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition. Plus, hitting the sack hungry can disrupt sleep patterns. In fact, new research suggests you should eat right before bed if you exercise at night, or if you're over 60. A protein-packed meal—or even a whey protein shake—provides more fuel for your body to synthesize muscle. It also helps combat the effects of age-related muscle loss. (Have you found it hard to stick to your workouts? Don't worry—the No Gym, No Excuses Workout will help you incinerate fat and pack on muscle without lifting a weight.)

No Gym, No Excuses Workout

How much protein? A recent study in the American Journal of Physiology found that elderly men who ate 35 grams of whey protein experienced more muscle growth than those who ate 10 or 20 grams.
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Replies

  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    I would have liked to see a little more scientific backing to this, but what are your thoughts????




    http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/health-habits-waste-time/story?id=16603893

    "Health Habits That Are a Waste of Time"

    Don't Eat After 8 P.M.

    Calories can't tell time.

    ^ I 100% agree (with the above premise -- I didn't read the entire article).

    But as to your request for research to back it up, you should instead ask for research suggesting that it is detrimental to eat after 8pm, since that's really what the (false) claim is.
  • JudyL5305
    JudyL5305 Posts: 215 Member
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    i think it all depends on your schedule and lifestyle. For me after 8 is really pushing it but that's because I go to bed around 10-10:30
  • epmck11
    epmck11 Posts: 159 Member
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    i think it all depends on your schedule and lifestyle. For me after 8 is really pushing it but that's because I go to bed around 10-10:30

    Did you read the article? Calories can't tell time! It doesn't matter if you eat at 8 and go to bed at 8:05, 10:05, or 12:05. Calories are all the same no matter what time you consume them.
  • Alexstrasza
    Alexstrasza Posts: 619 Member
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    There is research out there to prove it does not matter what time you eat. I'm to lazy to find it at the moment but I have come across it quite a few times in my studies. I'm studying to be a fitness nutritionist, if that means anything.
  • RayRay1500
    RayRay1500 Posts: 158 Member
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    I eat whenever, even a 1/2 hour before bed. This has not made a difference in my weight loss at all.
  • nwhitley
    nwhitley Posts: 619
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    Agreed. But, I think the theory behind not eating after a certain time is b/c it keeps some people from snacking and eating junk late at night while watching tv. Most people eating after 8 or so are probably not eating an actual sit down healthy meal.
  • DesignGuy
    DesignGuy Posts: 457 Member
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    When you look into these "don't eat late at night" studies, you usually find that the negative results were not due to some body science factor, but due to participants who:

    1. Ate more calories than they burned.
    2. Made poor choices and ate crap (ice cream, candy bars, etc).
  • amanda_ataraxia
    amanda_ataraxia Posts: 400 Member
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    I believe there is a lot of merit to this. I was told this by a dietitian when I was in college, since college kids have such crazy sleep and eating habits.

    I have been known to have a tablespoon of unsalted almond butter (staying within my calorie allowance obviously) just before bed when I am starving.
  • acidosaur
    acidosaur Posts: 295 Member
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    Agreed. But, I think the theory behind not eating after a certain time is b/c it keeps some people from snacking and eating junk late at night while watching tv. Most people eating after 8 or so are probably not eating an actual sit down healthy meal.

    Yeah, that was my take as well. I have a ban on eating after 8pm because otherwise I eat junk. It just cuts down on calories over all.
  • pinthin87
    pinthin87 Posts: 296 Member
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    I usually do not eat after 7 because I do feel that if affects the scale in the morning. Wish there was more proof to this therory. Then I wouldn't go to bed some nights with a growling tummy.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    I usually do not eat after 7 because I do feel that if affects the scale in the morning. Wish there was more proof to this therory. Then I wouldn't go to bed some nights with a growling tummy.

    It can effect the scale if it causes you to retain water or if the actual food weight is still present the next time you weigh yourself. It does not effect net fat gain assuming you are not over-eating in total.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    It's only a problem to eat after 8pm if you go to bed at 7:45, because that would pose a choking risk.
  • LMP1979
    LMP1979 Posts: 54 Member
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    :tongue: Kinda been my rule that if I'm really hungry right before bed, I eat or the hunger will wake me up! Usually cereal is perfect. Grew up that way, and its never made me gain weight.
  • oldmanstauf
    oldmanstauf Posts: 202 Member
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    I almost always eat late, many times an hour or so before bed. There's no difference when you eat.
  • supplemama
    supplemama Posts: 1,956 Member
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    I have found it is best for me not to eat after 8pm, simply because I don't sleep well if I eat within a couple of hours of bedtime. I eat a full dinner so it's not like I am going to bed hungry.
  • zellagrrl
    zellagrrl Posts: 439
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    i think it all depends on your schedule and lifestyle. For me after 8 is really pushing it but that's because I go to bed around 10-10:30

    Did you read the article? Calories can't tell time! It doesn't matter if you eat at 8 and go to bed at 8:05, 10:05, or 12:05. Calories are all the same no matter what time you consume them.

    Calories can't tell time, but I don't really feel all that well if I eat a heavy meal before I go to sleep, so it's a fair comment from that sense.
  • angieleighbyrd
    angieleighbyrd Posts: 989 Member
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    I think it goes back to the whole every one is different thing. I know people who eat before bed and it doesn't effect them at all. I am the opposite, if I eat before bed I gain like crazy even if I eat something healthy.
  • TriThreat
    TriThreat Posts: 313
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    Ithink the idea behind that rule is that your body is "slowing down" cause you are getting ready for bed and less likely to burn as many of the calories. but I workout from 8pm to 9pm and then eat dinner around 9::30, and it hasn't hurt my weight loss AT ALL.
  • MsNewBooty83
    MsNewBooty83 Posts: 1,003 Member
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    i dont think that weight managament wise that it would matter so much, but maybe sleep wise? i generally get a better sleep if i dont go to bed on a super full belly. i did the dont eat after 8pm thing, only because i found myself grazing out of boredom and it was when i would binge and take in large amounts of straight up empty calories. i fought it hard for a month and have pretty much broken myself of the habit now.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    I eat whenever I feel like it, haven't seen it cause any trouble...in fact, I save calories to eat between 8 and 10 because I wake up like a hungry lion if I don't.

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