In today’s episode we will be discussing one of the most common nutrition questions that I get. People tell me that they eat great throughout the early and afternoon parts of their day, but then nighttime hits and either they say… that they overconsume dinner… or they feel that they are still hungry right before bed so they either snack late at night or they have cravings that they try to willpower their way through… or they just don’t know what to eat when they are hungry late at night.
Usually I hear questions like… “Won’t eating at night make me fat?” or “I know I can’t eat past 8pm so I just try to power through the cravings and the hunger… is that okay?”
For a long time it was believed that eating right before bed would cause all sorts of health issues and would automatically make you gain fat. One of the phrases I learned back in school was, “eating after 8 will make you gain weight.” Well, like with all things in fitness and nutrition… it’s much MUCH more complicated than that. We know that if you consume more than you expend (no matter what time you eat your foods), you’ll become a larger person and vice versa if you consume less than you expend you’ll get smaller. We know that the person’s daily activity and movement matters. We know that the amount of muscle mass a person has matters. And we know that the person’s goals are super important when answering this question. These are just a few of the many factors that go into play when trying to get an answer for the question… “Is it okay to eat before bed… and if so… what can I eat before bed?”
So today, we are going to be breaking down nighttime eating in this masterclass episode.
References:
Eatdirtfood.com
Discount code (10% off entire order): DirtyDamien
The Great Courses (on audible)
“Changing your body composition through diet and exercise” by Dr. Michael Ormsbee
Dr. Michael Ormsbee
IG: @mikeormsbee
His team at FSU: @FSUISSM
His collegues: Luc Van Loon, Jorn Trommelen
Info graphic on “Pre sleep protein does not make you gain fat.”
Saracino et al, 2020, Nutrients
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/7/2049
Links:
IG:
@coachdamien_sd
@damienrayevans
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6VuPgtVsdBpDj5oN3YQTg
FB:
https://www.facebook.com/coachdamienSD/
