Work overtime and immersively playing on your phone to watch videos. For many people, staying up late has become the norm in life. What follows is that it is late at night and hungry. Have you also been struggling with reason and emotions countless times: "Do you want to have some midnight snack?"
In addition to "eating midnight snack", there is another question about dinner: many people, especially girls, choose not to eat dinner in order to quickly get thinner.
Recently, there is a "16+8 weight loss method" that claims to be "can lose 10 pounds a month" that is very popular. People who choose this weight loss method usually eat between 9 am and 5 pm and are hungry at night. Which of these choices is healthier?
01
Is it really bad to have "eat midnight snack before going to bed"?
Many people say that eating midnight snacks before going to bed is not good, and the most common reason is that they will gain weight. In fact, gaining weight has nothing to do with eating midnight snacks itself.
The reason why you gain weight is because the calories you consume exceed your body's needs, and the excess calories are all turned into fat and applied to your stomach, buttocks, and thighs. Therefore, as long as the calories you consume are less than your body needs, you will not gain weight.
If you have been hungry for a long time before going to bed, you are hungry and your mind is no longer rotating, and you are obviously lacking in energy, wouldn’t it be nice to have some midnight snack? Nowadays, many white-collar workers and students have to work overtime at night and sleep late. They are hungry after 10 o'clock. Can they not eat some?
For people who lose weight, they often eat less at once when they first lose weight, and it is inevitable that they will feel hungry at night. In fact, eating a little bit appropriately and slowly reducing their appetite is not bad.
On the contrary, if you are full and have a high energy intake, even if you don’t eat midnight snacks, you will also gain weight; if you eat some midnight snacks, you will only gain weight.
Of course, we cannot eat midnight snacks without any scruples. Because eating midnight snacks at night, especially too late may also lead to some diseases. There is a disease that causes eating too much at night, 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. The energy intake after dinner accounts for more than 50% of the day. They often get up at night to steal snacks (more than 3 times a week, lasting for more than 3 months). Their energy intake is much higher than that of ordinary people and has a high incidence of obesity.
02
Will "sleep when hungry" be healthier?
In fact, if you really don’t eat dinner at all, “sleeping in hunger” will also cause harm to your body.
is the most direct and obvious thing - hunger.
After all, the energy and nutrition our human body needs every day are similar. If you don’t eat a certain meal or eat too much at other times, it will definitely not be enough and will slowly be exhausted.
If you don’t eat supper directly and simply, other living habits will remain the same, and malnutrition will occur if you continue to do so. For example, you may feel listless, physically exhausted, depressed, and dull face... These are all manifestations of malnutrition. (Also hungry.)
. Some people with special diseases, not eating supper will have a greater impact on them. For example, patients with gastrointestinal ulcers may cause aggravation of gastrointestinal ulcers; while some people who work during special periods (such as , , and night shifts), if they don’t eat at night, they will not be able to obtain the energy source for continuous smooth work.
Generally speaking, there are only two types of people who can stop eating dinner and "sleep on hungry":
1) People who eat a lot of people before dinner
If you have lunch with friends and eat a lot of big fish and meat, or eat a buffet to make a buffet, to make a lot of money, or eat a lot of snacks, fruits, potato chips, biscuits and other snacks for dinner in the afternoon, and don't exercise at night, so you stay at home to watch a show to prepare for bed, then you can ignore this dinner today.
2) People who want to control their weight
If you have a higher weight and even reach the "obesity" line (BMI>28), you need to control your diet appropriately and limit your energy intake. You can avoid eating a dinner or two occasionally during the early stages of weight control.
03
Is the "16+8 weight loss method" healthy?
In fact, this is also a way to lose weight by fasting, which is similar to " light fasting " and "5:2 intermittent fasting". If you strictly adhere to fasting , you can see the weight loss effect because it helps you reduce your energy intake. To put it bluntly, it will make you restrict your diet and eat less.
However, fasting is not a recommended way. There is no authoritative health agency that recommends fasting to people to lose weight.
If you have long-term fasting to lose weight, side effects are likely to occur. Due to insufficient supply of carbohydrates, it will cause a strong sense of hunger and mental insecurity. In severe cases, it will affect study, work and even daily life. It may also cause malnutrition, dizziness, headache, irritability and anxiety, sleepiness during the day, and insomnia at night, etc., which may also rebound.
If you are a big fish and meat on weekdays, you are not good at restraint, have obese body, have too large waist circumference, and suffer from high blood lipids and fatty liver, you can also use fasting to lose weight appropriately. If you don’t eat too much on weekdays, lack meat, eggs and milk, are afraid of cold, have indigestion, and are malnourished, then you must never eat fasting to lose weight.
In the long run, the fundamental path to weight loss is to control the balance of total energy and maintain the vitality of the body.
04
How to eat midnight snack healthily?
From a health perspective, we should try our best to arrange our three meals a day regularly, do not ignore dinner and "sleep when hungry", but we should not eat too much late supper.
If you want to have midnight snacks, it is recommended to try:
1. Eat midnight snacks 1-2 hours before going to bed
Do not eat a lot of food before going to bed, as it can easily affect your sleep, resulting in poor sleep and poor spirits the next day. It is recommended to have a midnight snack 1-2 hours before going to bed. For example, if you plan to go to bed at around 11 o'clock, you will finish your midnight snack before 9:30.
2. Try to choose light and healthy foods
Many people like to eat instant noodles, biscuit cakes, barbecue, and fried chicken for lunch, but they are basically high-fat, high-salt and high-sugar foods, which are not good for health and are not suitable for midnight snacks.
In addition, late-night snacks are not suitable for eating exciting and exciting seasonings such as chili peppers and peppers. It is recommended to give priority to fruits, cereals, beans and milk. These foods are , protein, and fat, and are easier to digest and absorb, and will not add burden to the gastrointestinal tract.
(Popular Science China)
