Eating before bed-time

Typically by eating a balanced meal or by mixing in certain food items the insulin response can be changed.

An example late night meal of

8 ounces of chicken breast
1 cup of broccoli
1 teaspoon of flax oil
2 cups of cooked pasta
8 ounces of milk

The mixture of fat, fiberous carbs and protein will impact insulin release.

Most of us do not need a "carb heavy" meal before bedtime, but most of us also do not need to be fearful of eating a typical balanced meal before bedtime either.

Another factor is recovery and that typically happens during certain sleep zones. So one thing to consider if you go to bed with hunger pains how deeply will you sleep and will that interfere with recovery?

There are a lot of "what ifs" to this discussion.

STS901 said:

Proven? That's one hell of a strong word. Got a source?

Eating before bed has nothing to do with gaining weight, it's total calorie consumpution for the day. i eat thru out the day every 3 hours. and 1-2 hours before bed i slam about 1k calories down to get me thru the night. im 5ft7 138lbs 10% bf and consume 3-4k calories a day. when i eat less i gain!!

STS901 said:

Tom Weede. Senior Editor: Mens Fitness; author: Men's Fitness, Muscle and Fitness, Natural Health

"Eating a carb heavy meal before bed can trigger an insulin response while you sleep. Over time, insulin tends to cause an increase in bodyfat storage." His exception is if you train at night, because carbs replenish glycogen stores depleted during workouts.

a carb heavy meal triggers an insulin response at any time of the day; it makes no difference that it's before bedtime. Since my diet is 70% carbohydrate I guess I should be obese according to this theory...

JS

Future-pro said:

menshealth.co.ukanswer.phtmlOpen ↗ weight gain only comes if you eat your regular meals as well as a meal close to bedtime then weight gain is expected because you are eating more calories.

That means it's proven? This bloke sites one editor's opinion and you take that as end all fact?

Look i'm right your wrong simple weight gain only happens if you eat your regular meals as well as a meal before bedtime therefore weight gain is expected because you are eating extra calories

zaskar said:

Eating before bed has nothing to do with gaining weight, it's total calorie consumpution for the day. i eat thru out the day every 3 hours. and 1-2 hours before bed i slam about 1k calories down to get me thru the night. im 5ft7 138lbs 10% bf and consume 3-4k calories a day. when i eat less i gain!!

So then you don't believe in eating before for energy and immediately after your workouts for recovery then? It's all about total calorie consumption and that's it?
Are you familiar with the measurement "basal metabolic rate"? It is a measurement of how many calories your body burns at complete rest, and yes, someone who is in very strong cardiovascular condition would burn more at rest. Now I have your height and weight, and we will give you an age of 32 for the sake of completing the formula.
so here goes:
BMR=66+(13.7X62.72kg)+(5X170.18cm)-(6.8X32)
BMR=1492.56
Considering cyclists do tend to be in very strong cardiovascular shape we will give you a 1.3multiplier (you burning 30% more calories at rest than another 5'7 138lb 32yr old)
BMR(1.3)=1940.32
Divide that by 24 and you get your number of calories burned per hour of sleep. In this case it is 80.84
Over an eight hour night you burn 646.72 calories, therefore you are in excess by ~350.
For you to burn the 1000 calories in eight hours your BMR would have to be 3000cal/24hr.

That is twice the baseline. The multiplier for an extremely active person is 1.9, but that is not the basal, that is full day, so I have no doubt that you are burning 3,000 calories a day but at night your calorie consumption isn't the same and shouldnt be treated as such.

The problem with this subject is it isnt something that can be experimented on with a control using the exact environment of the variable since there is not a placebo for food. 🙂 Everyone has their belief on the situation so we fling different studies at one another til we're blue in the face.

Here is a thought though. For two weeks eat your 1000 calorie meal at least 3 hours before bed time and see if there is any difference over normal fluctuation you currently experience. Your daily caloric intake will still be the same and if there's no difference what have you lost?
Cheers

Of course i eat before and after rides. your not considering the cals i burn on the bike 11-15 hours a week.

STS901 said:

So then you don't believe in eating before for energy and immediately after your workouts for recovery then? It's all about total calorie consumption and that's it?
Are you familiar with the measurement "basal metabolic rate"? It is a measurement of how many calories your body burns at complete rest, and yes, someone who is in very strong cardiovascular condition would burn more at rest. Now I have your height and weight, and we will give you an age of 32 for the sake of completing the formula.
so here goes:
BMR=66+(13.7X62.72kg)+(5X170.18cm)-(6.8X32)
BMR=1492.56
Considering cyclists do tend to be in very strong cardiovascular shape we will give you a 1.3multiplier (you burning 30% more calories at rest than another 5'7 138lb 32yr old)
BMR(1.3)=1940.32
Divide that by 24 and you get your number of calories burned per hour of sleep. In this case it is 80.84
Over an eight hour night you burn 646.72 calories, therefore you are in excess by ~350.
For you to burn the 1000 calories in eight hours your BMR would have to be 3000cal/24hr.

That is twice the baseline. The multiplier for an extremely active person is 1.9, but that is not the basal, that is full day, so I have no doubt that you are burning 3,000 calories a day but at night your calorie consumption isn't the same and shouldnt be treated as such.

The problem with this subject is it isnt something that can be experimented on with a control using the exact environment of the variable since there is not a placebo for food. 🙂 Everyone has their belief on the situation so we fling different studies at one another til we're blue in the face.

Here is a thought though. For two weeks eat your 1000 calorie meal at least 3 hours before bed time and see if there is any difference over normal fluctuation you currently experience. Your daily caloric intake will still be the same and if there's no difference what have you lost?
Cheers

STS901 said:

Tom Weede. Senior Editor: Mens Fitness; author: Men's Fitness, Muscle and Fitness, Natural Health

"Eating a carb heavy meal before bed can trigger an insulin response while you sleep. Over time, insulin tends to cause an increase in bodyfat storage." His exception is if you train at night, because carbs replenish glycogen stores depleted during workouts.

let me get this staright; you chastise the other poster because he used the word "proven" and here you go quoting the editor of fitness magazines sold next to tabloids in the checkout line at the supermarket. Let me guess your mother is a dwarf alien that gave birth to you rectally when she was 10.

To further prove i'm right ediets.comcid 1Open ↗#arthritis.about.comweightlossmyths 2.htmOpen ↗
medicinenet.comart.aspOpen ↗

jrstevens said:

let me get this staright; you chastise the other poster because he used the word "proven" and here you go quoting the editor of fitness magazines sold next to tabloids in the checkout line at the supermarket. Let me guess your mother is a dwarf alien that gave birth to you rectally when she was 10.

Are you insinuating that I said that was proof or are you upset because I quoted someone who is published in a magazine you obviously have no care for?
I never once said that was proof; lets recap the list of events:
First, I said "they" say...,
then you said who are they? Because I claim to be an MS RD and have never told any athlete that (and how many athletes do you see exactly in grad school?)
Next, I posted who "they" are.
The article I am quoting is from Muscle and Fitness, the author is a senior editor of Fitness, as well as an author in several other publications.

Then you come back with what quite sincerely has to be the stupidest retort I have ever heard in my life.

And that's where we currently are.

Now, take that info and shove it up your ass, far up..., right where your head obviously is, then maybe you will be able to comprehend it.

Future-pro said:

Look i'm right your wrong simple weight gain only happens if you eat your regular meals as well as a meal before bedtime therefore weight gain is expected because you are eating extra calories

And herein lies the problem. You are argueing on principle not truth. You are so concerned with being right, and proving to others that you are right that you are blind to any possibilty that the other option may be better.

I never said you were wrong, I stated conjecture from another author just as you have but I did not say "This is the way because I said so, now allow me to present hyperlinks."

This is like arguing over Christianity. In the end the odds of anyone being swayed are slim, they will remain even more dug into their previous mindset.

STS901 said:

And herein lies the problem. You are argueing on principle not truth. You are so concerned with being right, and proving to others that you are right that you are blind to any possibilty that the other option may be better.

I never said you were wrong, I stated conjecture from another author just as you have but I did not say "This is the way because I said so, now allow me to present hyperlinks."

This is like arguing over Christianity. In the end the odds of anyone being swayed are slim, they will remain even more dug into their previous mindset.

Ok let me reword it there is far greater support to the fact that eating before bedtime is not a bad thing compared to it been a bad thing which ive provided examples of and i am arguing on truth because if you actually read the hyperlinks it shows that studies have been done to prove that eating before bedtime is not a bad thing.

First link:
"But it's probably a myth that eating before bed has a unique ability to promote weight gain compared with eating at other times of the day"

Second link:
"About makes no representations and specifically disclaims all warranties, express, implied or statutory, regarding the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose of any material contained in this site."

I couldn't find the story on the "WIN" site either.
Third article is the same as the one posted on about.com

FP, I do not care one way or the other what you believe. All I asked is if you had a source to say it is "PROVEN". Show me that one.

Cheers

STS901 said:

Are you insinuating that I said that was proof or are you upset because I quoted someone who is published in a magazine you obviously have no care for?
I never once said that was proof; lets recap the list of events:
First, I said "they" say...,
then you said who are they? Because I claim to be an MS RD and have never told any athlete that (and how many athletes do you see exactly in grad school?)
Next, I posted who "they" are.
The article I am quoting is from Muscle and Fitness, the author is a senior editor of Fitness, as well as an author in several other publications.

Then you come back with what quite sincerely has to be the stupidest retort I have ever heard in my life.

And that's where we currently are.

Now, take that info and shove it up your ass, far up..., right where your head obviously is, then maybe you will be able to comprehend it.

you're right. I have to admit that was a pretty stupid retort. FYI I am the consultant to a women's pro cycling team, and part of the founding group of RDs of a major sports nutrition organization in case there's any question of my expertise on the matter. I'm not insinuating what you stated was proof but I just think it's ironic because you ripped someone else for saying "proven" but you obviously feel the stuff written in Men's Fitness carries weight, perhaps not proven but nonetheless...

JS

"A trial from January 2005 found that eating late at night was not associated with weight gain even among people with "night eating syndrome" (see below)." I've provided what i believe to be proof several times already but i can know see it's pointless because this arguement is like the chicken and the egg one everyone believes what they want to believe in my opinion eating before bedtime is not a bad thing and i know from personal experiance ive never had any negative effects and yes i have tried not eating before bedtime absolutly no difference whatsoever

Future-pro said:

Ok let me reword it there is far greater support to the fact that eating before bedtime is not a bad thing compared to it been a bad thing which ive provided examples of and i am arguing on truth because if you actually read the hyperlinks it shows that studies have been done to prove that eating before bedtime is not a bad thing.

Very well stated. My only qualm with that is that there have been several studies to either side of the fence. That's all. However I can't devote anymore time to this at the moment as it's cutting into my cycling time.🙂

Cheers.