5 Reasons You Should Stop Eating Late At Night

Mary Akanbi

28th July, 2022

We often feel hunger pangs while watching our favourite TV shows or working late at night which leads us to consume junk or heavy food. 

You are eating late usually when you eat within three hours of going to sleep. For instance, if your sleep time is from 11 am – 7 am, eating late will be between 8 pm and 12 am. 

Eating right with a balanced diet and at the right time will improve the body’s metabolism. Your body is going to metabolise whatever you put into it, and if you are not active to use up the energy you absorb from it, it will be stored as fat, which would eventually result in bad health. 

In this article, we will discuss some reasons why you should stop eating late at night.

1. Weight gain

Eating late at night increases the possibility of weight gain. When you pay less attention to weight gain, it gets chronic and leads to obesity.

Taking midnight snacks can lead to weight gain, especially if they are fatty or sugary foods. The body stores extra calories for hours, which is why they can speed up your weight gain. Midnight snacks could be challenging to control at a later stage. 

2. Eating disorder

People who eat late are likely to make poor food choices. One of the reasons for this poor choice of food is that at night, you are tired and the more tired you are, the more you are likely to crave unhealthy or high-calorie food. 

These poor choices and cravings can lead to eating disorders and this is a sign of negative health.

Eating disorders make you eat a lot throughout the day or you will be eating less than the average calories your body needs. 

3. Disturbs sleep pattern

The average sleeping hours of a person should be eight hours of uninterrupted sleep, which is a sign of good health. Not having enough sleep can impede a healthy lifestyle.

When your stomach asks for more food at night, it is going to interrupt your sleeping pattern.  There would be a feeling of tiredness in your body because of fewer hours of sleep. 

4. Affects pregnancy

During pregnancy, your usual hunger pangs double that of an average person. You would be craving a lot of things and you would want to have food at every point in time. You should stop yourself from eating or munching anything before going to sleep. 

Doctors have said that late-night eating lowers the BMI of your body. If the BMI drops for a pregnant woman, it would affect her and her baby’s health. 

Make sure you eat fresh and healthy foods throughout the day, but avoid late-night snacking.

5. Affects digestion and metabolism

The body’s metabolism is low at night. This is because we are not active or moving. By eating late at night, you make the already low metabolic state worse and you are not able to digest the food quickly enough. 

When you eat late at night, your body is not able to distribute the right nutrients to your body which leads to poor digestion and makes you vulnerable to illness. You’ll not have the power to fight any diseases you are prone to but if you eat healthily and at proper hours, you would save yourself from unwanted illness.

Avoid eating at odd hours. Its health effects are not worth it. Everyone desires to live a long and healthy life. By staying fit with a proper diet at the proper time, you will reduce the negative effects on your body.