By Belmarra Health
For decades we have been warned that late night eating can
lead to weight gain, with the most common explanation being that our will power
tends to be lower and we are more likely to consume high calorie junk food in
the wee hours of the night. However, scientists have now discovered that late
night snacking may increase our obesity risk even if we avoid junk food and
worse still, eating before bed can lead to a myriad of harmful health effects.
In 2009 a study done on rats at Northwestern University
found that late night eating can lead to significant weight gain, regardless of
whether or not that person is counting calories and avoiding junk food. “How or
why a person gains weight is very complicated, but it clearly is not just
calories in and calories out," said Fred Turek, professor of neurobiology
and physiology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. "We think
some factors are under circadian control. Better timing of meals, which would require
a change in behavior, could be a critical element in slowing the
ever-increasing incidence of obesity."
Junk Food at Night
Studies such as this have led scientists to conclude that
our body’s internal clock, the one that regulates our sleep-wake cycle, also
regulates the way in which our body burns calories and if we eat when we should
be sleeping, then our bodies will burn off less of what we consume. The exact
reason why our metabolism is less active during the night is unknown however
scientist speculates that the genes that control our metabolism are more fully
turned “on” during the daytime and therefore able to process energy more
effectively.
Recently, Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological
Studies conducted another study pertaining to rats and eating hours, and they
found that the rats that only had access to food on a regular eight hour
schedule weighed 28 percent less than the rats that had access to food around
the clock. In addition to an increased risk of obesity, the scientists also
found that around-the-clock eating contributed to high blood sugar levels,
increased inflammation, elevated cholesterol, liver damage and motor control
problems. "What we showed is under daily fasting the body can fight
unhealthy food to a significant extent," says study author Megumi Hatori.
Megumi warns however, that this finding is not a free pass to forgo counting
calories and go on a junk food frenzy during the daytime, stating that “there
are bound to be limits."
Counting Calories in
Junk Food
It appears that aside from an increased chance for weight
gain and obesity, the major drawback of eating late at night is that it lessens
the amount of time that you are fasting. If you eat your last meal at 6pm for
instance, and you don’t eat again until 8 in the morning than your body is
allotted a full 14 hours of fasting on a daily basis. This is important because
fasting produces innumerable health benefits including: an increased production
of both anti-aging and growth hormones, an increase in fat loss, the ability to
detoxify harmful substances, a more powerful immune system, and last but
certainly not least, there is mounting evidence that fasting increases your
overall lifespan. So next time you have a late night food craving, regardless
of whether it is for healthy food or junk food, ask yourself if the short-term
gratification is really worth ruining the benefits that you can reap from an
extended period of nightly fasting.
Bel Marra Nutritionals
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customers. We provide health and well being products and information, and also
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Article Source:Junk Food at Night
Article Source:Junk Food at Night