According to popular science China, working overtime and immersively playing on your mobile phone to watch videos, for many people, staying up late has become the norm in life, and what follows is - it's late at night and hungry.
Have you ever been struggling with reason and emotion countless times: "Do you want to have some midnight snack?"
In addition to "eating midnight snack", there is another question about dinner: many people, in order to get thinner quickly, choose not to eat dinner. Recently, there is also a "16+8 weight loss method" that claims to be able to lose 10 pounds a month, which 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? 1 Is it really bad to have a "night snack before going to bed"? Many people say that eating midnight snacks before going to bed is not good, and the most commonly mentioned reason is that they will gain weight. In fact, gaining weight has nothing to do with eating midnight snacks itself. The reason for gaining weight is that the calories consumed exceed the body's needs, and the excess calories become fat and "put on" the stomach, buttocks, and thighs. Therefore, as long as the calories consumed are less than the body needs, you will not gain weight. If you have been hungry for a long time before going to bed, and are hungry, 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 they will inevitably feel hungry at night. In fact, eating a little bit appropriately and slowly reducing their appetite is not bad. On the contrary, if you eat very full and have a high energy intake, you will also gain weight even if you don’t eat midnight snacks. At this time, 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, which is called "night meal syndrome". Patients with "night meal syndrome" have no appetite in the morning and do not want to eat, and have a strong appetite at night. The energy intake after dinner accounts for more than 50% of the day. They also often get up (more than 3 times a week, lasting for more than 3 months) to steal snacks at night. Their energy intake is much higher than that of ordinary people and the incidence of obesity is also high. 2 Will "sleeping on hungry" be healthier? In fact, if you don’t eat supper, “sleeping on hunger” can also cause harm to the body. After all, the energy and nutrition needed by the human body 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. If you don’t eat dinner, other living habits will remain the same, and malnutrition will occur if you continue to do so, such as mental depression, physical weakness, depression, and dull complexion... These are all manifestations of malnutrition.
For some patients with special diseases, not eating supper will have a greater impact on them. For example, patients with gastrointestinal ulcers may cause ulcers to worsen; some people who work during special periods (such as three shifts and night shifts) cannot obtain energy sources for continuous work without eating at night. Generally speaking, there are only two types of people who can "sleep on hunger": 1. People who eat a lot of fish and meat before dinner. If you have lunch with friends, or eat a buffet much more than usual to make a buffet, or eat a lot of snacks, fruits, potato chips, biscuits and other snacks in the afternoon, and don't exercise at night, you stay at home to watch a show to go to bed, then you can ignore this dinner today. 2. People who need to control their weights 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 at the beginning of weight control. 3 Is the "16+8 weight loss method" healthy? In fact, this is also a method of fasting and weight loss, which is similar to "light fasting" and "5:2 intermittent fasting". If you strictly insist on fasting, you can see the weight loss effect because it reduces energy intake and limits your diet. However, fasting is not a recommended way to lose weight. There are no authoritative health institutions that recommend fasting 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 lead to mental insufficiency. 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. It may also rebound.
If you are a big fish and meat on weekdays, you are not good at restraint, you are obese, have too large waist circumference, and suffer from hyperlipidemia, fatty liver, etc., you can use fasting appropriately. If you don’t eat too much on weekdays, lack meat, eggs and milk, are afraid of cold, indigestion, and are malnourished, you must never eat fasting to lose weight. The fundamental path to weight loss is to control the balance of total energy and maintain the vitality of the body. 4How to eat midnight snacks healthy? From a health perspective, we should try our best to arrange three meals a day as regularly as possible, not to skip dinner, and not to overeat midnight snacks. If you want to have a midnight snack, it is recommended to try: 1. After eating midnight snack 1-2 hours before going to bed, it should not eat a lot of food before going to bed, as it can easily affect your sleep. Poor sleep will lead to poor spirits the next day. It is recommended to finish the 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 eating before 9:30. 2. Try to choose light and healthy foods. Many people like to eat instant noodles, biscuits, 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 lunch. In addition, late-night snacks are not suitable for eating foods containing irritating seasonings such as chili peppers and pepper. It is recommended to give priority to fruits, cereals, beans and milk. These foods have low fat content and are easier to digest and absorb, and will not add burden to the gastrointestinal tract.
Author｜Ruan Guangfeng Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center Director of Science and Technology
Review｜Han Hongwei Researcher of National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center
