Does eating late at night cause weight gain?
I’ve heard many people debate this topic, and the usual conclusion is “yes, it does” or “I’m not sure, but I’d rather not risk it and not eat too late.”
The truth is that eating late-night meals and gaining weight depends on another factor. However, more often than not, it is a myth!
We can think about this topic like the belly fat myth — we can get some truth from it if we talk about it a bit more in detail.
I’ll talk about how eating late at night causes weight gain, how it’s false, and what is a positive and negative to eating late at night.
How can this myth be true?
This is a simple idea in that it involves calories. The following is usually true for everyone:
- If we eat less calories than we burn throughout the day, we will lose weight.
- If we eat about the same amount as we burn throughout the day, we will maintain our weight.
- If we eat more calories than we burn throughout the day, we will gain weight.
The general population (i.e., non-athletes, non-competitive individuals) will exercise or be active to maintain their weight (#2). These individuals aren’t looking for improvements in specific areas like muscle growth, speed, power, strength, etc.
The general population also includes people who do not exercise but maybe active in the four settings. These individuals usually have an eating routine and fall into the second category as well.
In these groups, eating late at night will cause weight gain because it’s more calories than they’re burning — they move into the 3rd situation.
This is how the myth is true!
If we’ve already reached our recommended calorie-intake for the day and decide to eat late at night, then we’ll add more calories which can lead to weight gain.
How is this myth usually false?
Well, we have lives to live and are normally busy.
We’re more likely to skip meals throughout the day because we’re busy working, taking care of kids, and/or running errands. We’re more likely snacking on foods rather than eating large meals for calories.
For example, I’ll tell myself to do work for 5 more minutes before going to eat, but I get in the zone for another hour and forget that I should eat!
In this case, our calories can be below what we should be intaking, so eating late at night would not cause weight gain. We’re just eating to get back to normal.
To be exact, it has nothing to do with the time of eating — it’s about the amount of calories total being eaten that plays a role in weight gain.
One positive from eating late at night
As mentioned above, if we’ve skipped meals during the day, eating a late-night meal can help replenish those calories.
Also, it may feel good to reward ourselves with a nice snack or meal at the end of the day. If we really want something and have worked hard during the day, why not reward ourselves?
We won’t overindulge — it’s all about moderation!
One negative from eating late at night
One idea that may hold us back from eating late at night is the food will not digest if we go to bed afterwards.
The body requires energy to digest food, but everything slows down when we’re sleeping. Our digestive system works a lot more slowly during sleep, and food will sit in our stomachs for the entire night (oversimplified).
Hence, if we eat late at night and still feel full in the morning, this is probably the reason why. This may result in an upset stomach as well.
In this case, we may want to carefully choose how much we eat at night. Also, some foods digest faster than others, so we may want to carefully consider what we eat, too.
Healthier foods are usually better options than processed foods!
Summary
The myth of “eating late at night will cause weight gain” can have some truth, but it is usually false.
The time of eating is not-so-much important as the ‘how much’ and ‘what’ that we eat at night for weight gain.
We’d consider the time before going to bed if we are going to eat late at night to prevent an upset stomach in the morning.
This blog was created to provide some clarification on this myth, in hopes that you can make a well-informed decision the next time you feel hungry at night!
Remember to check with a medical provider before starting a new exercise program and/or make life-changing decisions on health and fitness.
I hope this was helpful!
— Alex, M.S.