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Will you gain weight after eating food taken late at night? Be careful to be fooled again!

Hello everyone, I am Ruan Guangfeng, a master of nutrition and food safety from China Agricultural University, and a nutritionist.

In addition, I am a member of the expert group of the China Food Counterfeit Alliance and have won the [Top Ten Nutrition and Health Creators] award in today’s headlines for three consecutive years.

My friend invited me out for supper the day before yesterday. He weighed 160 kg and recently started another round of weight loss plan. I said:

Didn’t you say you want to lose weight? Why do you start eating food taken late at night again?

He said:

At the beginning of the weight loss plan, I was really hungry at night, and I was very hungry at about 10 o’clock. Moreover, I recently saw an article in my circle of friends saying,

What is going on with this research? Can you really rest assured to eat food taken late at night? Today, I’d like to talk to you about food taken late at night.

What is going on with this research?

The study was carried out by Japanese scientists. Between April 2012 and March 2014, the researchers looked at 1,573 middle-aged and elderly people aged 40 to 74, of whom 16% of men and 7.5% of women had the habit of eating food taken late at night before going to bed.

After monitoring their blood sugar levels for a long time, the study found that although going to bed within 2 hours after eating at night is not a healthy eating habit recommended by doctors, even if eating food taken late at night, it will not have what effect on blood sugar, that is to say, it will not get fat.

However, this study also has its problems. It is only an observational study, and the results of the study cannot draw a causal relationship, but only show a certain correlation.

For example, every summer, we will find that the sales volume of ice cream and the drowning death rate of children increase together, and there is a very strong correlation between the two, but can we say that the drowning death rate of children is caused by ice cream?

Obviously not! The big reason is that because the weather is hot, many children will run out to swim, which leads to danger.

Moreover, the study only observed the situation of the elderly, but other groups did not at all, and did not reflect the situation of all groups. You know, the elderly generally pay more attention to health, and other diets also pay more attention to control.

Therefore, this study cannot prove that eating food taken late at night does not make people fat.

Will eating food taken late at night make people fat?

Whether you gain weight is not directly related to whether you eat food taken late at night.

The reason why people gain weight is that they consume more calories than their bodies need and do not burn them off. The extra calories will become fat and stick to your stomach, buttocks and thighs.

As long as you consume less calories than your body needs, you will not gain weight.

If you have been hungry for a little half a day before going to bed, hungry, your brain is not turning, and you obviously lack energy, what can you do with a bowl of noodles? At present, many white-collar workers and students have to work overtime and use their brains at night. They sleep late and are hungry after 10 o’clock. Can they not eat?

For people who lose weight, they often eat less at once when they start to lose weight. It is inevitable that they will feel hungry at night. In fact, it is not impossible to eat a little properly and slowly reduce their appetite.

On the contrary, if you eat very full and have a high energy intake, even if you don’t eat food taken late at night, you will also gain weight. Of course, if you eat more food taken late at night, you will only get fatter.

Therefore, no matter what you eat in what, the calories you eat will always become fat accumulation.

If you want to snack before going to bed, you’d better weigh how many calories you have eaten first.

Can we have a good supper?

In fact, it is not possible, because eating food taken late at night, especially too late, may also lead to some diseases.

There is a disease caused by eating too much at night, which is called night eating syndrome.

These patients have no appetite in the morning and do not want to eat, but they have a strong appetite at night. After dinner, their energy intake accounts for more than 50% of the whole day. They often eat snacks at night (more than 3 times a week for more than 3 months). Their energy intake is much higher than that of ordinary people and the incidence of obesity is high.

In addition, patients with gastroesophageal reflux should not eat after dinner, because this may aggravate their reflux symptoms.

Therefore, even if eating food taken late at night will not make you fat, you cannot eat happily.

How to eat food taken late at night without getting fat?

STEP 1 Try to choose healthy foods

For example, biscuits, cakes, kebabs, etc. are often high in fat, protein or sugar and energy, so they are not suitable for food taken late at night.

It is suggested to give priority to fruits, grains, beans and milk. These foods have low protein and fat content, are easier to digest and absorb, and will not add burden to gastrointestinal tract.

2. Try to choose foods with light flavors.

Many people like to eat fried chicken, buns and fried food for food taken late at night. Barbecue is not healthy in itself, but it is delicious and easy for people to eat more. It is suggested to use these food taken late at night as little as possible.

In addition, try to choose food with light taste.

3. Eat food taken late at night 1 ~ 2 hours before going to bed.

It is not appropriate to eat a lot of food before going to bed, which will easily affect your sleep and lead to poor sleep and poor spirit the next day.

It is recommended to have food taken late at night 1-2 hours before going to bed. For example, if you plan to go to bed more than eleven o’clock, finish food taken late at night before 9: 30.

Editor: Ruan Guangfeng

Author: Ruan Guangfeng