Late Night Eating's Affect on Weight Gain

Of course this is something that doctors and those in the weight loss industry have been telling us for years. Some doctors and those in the weight loss industry recommend that we do not eat anything after 7 pm while others say not to eat anything prior to two hours before we go to bed.

Our bodies have an internal clock called the circadian rhythm. This internal clock regulates when we sleep and when we are awake and also it regulates our energy use. That is the bases behind the theories that eating late at night increases our weight gain. If we eat after our body's natural clock slows down our energy expenditure then our bodies will take the increase in calories and turn them into fat.

The Northwestern study seems to back up the theory that late night snacking does increase your weight gain. The study had two groups of mice. One group stayed on their normal routine of sleeping during the day and only eating at night. Mice are nocturnal so this is their normal routine. The other group of mice were kept awake all day and only allowed to eat during the day time.

Each group of mice ate a diet consisting of 60% fat. The mice on their normal routine only gained 20% of their body weight. While the mice that had their sleep time reversed gained 48% of their body weight. They also had 8% higher levels of fat as a percentage of their overall weight. These mice also showed a decrease in activity during the hours they were awake compared to the mice on their normal schedule.

This study was specifically interested in impact of eating and not sleeping at night for those that work third shift. Overall third shift workers are known to have a higher risk of being overweight and have health issues related to being obese. This study is also important with the increase of more Americans staying up late watching TV or playing on the computer.

Currently around one third of the children and two thirds of the adults in America are overweight or obese. It is still important to manage a good balance of calorie intake to calories burned and to eat a healthy diet. Now it seems that we all need to be sure to eat at the proper times too. Those late night snacks seem to stay on our waist and add pounds to our weight.