Does Eating At Night Make You Fat - By: Dr Bill

Like many questions I often pose here, there are a number of ways to
answer this question.

My first answer is this: It made me fat.

Let's go into the why. When I was making incisions and drilling,
shaving and pounding for a living, I had to work until the job was
finished. There were no union rules that said that at 4 PM you were
finished and you headed home. No...when you have a live person on
the table, there are no second bites at the apple. You finish the
job, no matter how long it takes.

This meant that, although I had a schedule, it didn't mean I was
going to be finished when that time came. I often worked late and
that didn't count being called in for emergencies. Sometimes, I was
no sooner in the front door than I was heading back out again. I ate
when I could and I ate what was available, which in those days was
mostly junk.

Then, when I finally did finish, I had to unwind. I usually did this
over a pizza, often putting a large one away, by myself. If it
wasn't pizza, it might have been a couple of takeout Chinese dishes,
which aren't exactly on the low end of the fat scale, either.

What I was doing was eating a large amount of heavy carbohydrate-
laden food just before bedtime. It was more than probability that I
was going to store that food as fat...it was reality.

Now...on the other hand, eating at night does not make you fat, IF:
Your diet is completely balanced and you are in a caloric deficit
and need to eat to get the right amount of calories.

This would pertain to people who are very active and by that, I mean
those who are working out regularly. Eating for this type is often
necessary, but they wouldn't be eating a box of freshly made donuts
and washing it down with whole milk, which was a hospital staple.

As a general rule, if you can swing it, you shouldn't really be
eating after say...7 PM. And if you're eating after that hour, make
sure you're getting good, fresh, healthy food. One successful rule
of a great many weight loss programs is the simple: NO FOOD AFTER
DINNER.

Here are a few reasons why this works:

You are less active at night and you are burning fewer calories.

Your metabolism is slowest while you're sleeping.

You release more insulin at night, compared to morning.

Your glycogen stores are fuller after a day of eating, so you are
more likely to store excess carbohydrate as fat, instead of storing
it as muscle glycogen.

So, if you don't eat after a certain time daily...you can probably
count on accelerating blubber loss.

About the Author

Dr. Bill is an orthopaedic surgeon and author. He recommends this pharmaceutical grade fish oil for more energy, reduced joint pain and increased heart health.

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