Eating late at night is bad for your health

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Extract from the article: Is the time of day you eat as important to your health as what you eat? This is the question posed by an analysis of foreign studies, two conclusions of which were published in the scientific journal "Proceedings of the Nutrition Society"....

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Is the time of day you eat as important to your health as what you eat? This is the question posed by an analysis of foreign studies, two conclusions of which were published in the scientific journal "Proceedings of the Nutrition Society". According to the research, eating late at night and eating meals at irregular times may be more harmful to health.

 

In analysing the impact of eating habits on health, several teams of researchers from King's College London and the universities of Newcastle and Surrey (England) examined several studies and came up with two main observations.

The first confirms the famous adage that you should 'eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper'. Specifically, the researchers found a link between high-calorie dinners in the evening and obesity. The second is more surprising. The researchers observed that adults who eat at the same times are less obese than those who eat randomly.

 

Random eating disrupts the biological clock

Although these observations require further data to identify the mechanism, the researchers nevertheless suggest the possibility of chrono-nutrition, a field explored since the 1950s, which consists of eating according to the body's biological rhythms. The aim is to optimise the assimilation of food as much as possible, just like when taking medication. The body produces digestive enzymes that react differently depending on what you eat and when you eat.

 

Avoiding sugar in the morning

Biologically, the body does not need sugar in the morning, but rather protein. If you take in sugar, it doesn't know what to do with it and stores it. The same goes for the composition and timing of dinner, we always avoid eating after 9pm, except for night workers of course. The intestinal movements stop after 10.30 pm. If you eat a late, rich dinner, you will experience digestive discomfort and your body temperature will rise. This will interfere with sleep.

 

Eating at a fixed time

The mechanism is not known, but it is certain that eating at random disrupts the biological clock, which is synchronised by the timing and composition of meals, physical activity and light. A disrupted biological clock leads to poor quality sleep and promotes obesity.

 

Eating well

At breakfast, opt for good fats and proteins, which meet the body's needs, help build our cell membranes and ensure satiety. At lunch, we take care of our animal or vegetable protein intake. At dinner, we should eat a less fatty and less copious meal. In this way, we avoid storing fat and we guarantee ourselves a good night's sleep.

Elom AKAKPO