The FastDay Forum

[carorees]

I've just come across this study in which the researchers investigated the effect of having a snack at 11pm compared with 10am on the way the body burns fat. They found that the night-time snack reduced how much fat was being burned and also increased both total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. The authors conclude:

Nighttime snacking increased total and LDL cholesterol and reduced fat oxidation, suggesting that eating at night changes fat metabolism and increases the risk of obesity.

This ties in with the study of breakfast skippers which we discussed the other day that found a bigger impact on health of eating late at night than on skipping breakfast(and yet, curiously, they headlined the study with the breakfast findings rather than the late night eating findings).

I would guess that the body is 'designed' to fast overnight and so tends to move into fat burning mode in order to preserve glycogen reserves during the usual resting hours. Eating late at night forces the body to drop out of fat burning in order to deal with the impact of the late night snack!

Unfortunately the abstract of the paper does not report the composition of the snack just that it was 192kcal.

Oh *** long string of very rude expletives ***

But thanks for this Caroline - better to know than boodle on, blithely ignorant.

I'm a late evening eater, feeding window usually between 5pm / 6pm to after midnight, up to 2am I guess. I have been trying to pull the end of the window in but will need to renew my efforts with a little more vigour.

I wonder how / if this is reflected in the health of cultures where it's normal to eat very late (I'm thinking Spain, perhaps). Or more generally for subjects for whom late eating is the norm. Hmmm.

Would love the whole paper. Anyone with an Athens login out there willing to send it to me? [You're allowed to send pdf's to individuals for academic purposes, I believe - or we used to on the PhD Phorum].

Cheers, FatDog

Boooooooo

[carorees]

You may be right, FatDog. I don't have Athens access but would love to get my hands on get to know someone who does!!

Oh poo from me too.... I like to snack (especially when I'm watching Masterchef - mercifully finished now - or even worse... Bake Off!!!) Mind you, I do try not to eat anything after around 9.30pm but still.....

Looks like I'll be drinking more water all evening then.... and that'll have me up half the night wanting to come out!!!

It's true. Don't eat after 7pm, digestion needs a running start before bed :0)

It's true. Don't eat after 7pm, digestion needs a running start before bed :0)

Bit difficult when you don't get in from work till 8:30pm!!

[carorees]

It's true. Don't eat after 7pm, digestion needs a running start before bed :0)

Bit difficult when you don't get in from work till 8:30pm!!

Yes, that is tricky. Still, the study looked at a snack at 11pm, so as long as you try to eat as soon as you can I expect you don't need to worry. Also the study participants would have also eaten a standard evening meal at I expect 7-ish, so again not like your situation.

Well, I think it is mostly bunk. Not every one is on a normal office hours type schedule. I am and have always been a serious night owl. When I did work outside the home I worked second and third shifts. It is 6:30pm right now and the only thing I've eaten so far is one boiled egg and it's a feast day today!

Fasting has only exacerbated my insomnia and night owl tendancies. So, yeah...Imma keep eating brunch at 2 or 3 in the afternoon, dinner at dusk which is typically 8:30 or 9 this time of year and a snack at midnight if I want it. Lord knows I won't fall asleep until 3 or 4am; so it isn't like I'm eating dinner and going straight to bed where it just sits there. I usually do about 2 hours worth of exercise around 10pm.

I have seen/read/heard of plenty of studies that said the time you eat is not important. WHAT you eat and how much of it is a lot more important than the timing, in my opinion.

Studies are fickle and here is a recent one extolling the virtues of night time snacking. Granted it was fit men in this study. The point is that whatever one study finds there is always another that finds the complete opposite. You have to do what works for you and take all the studies with a grain of salt.

http://news.menshealth.com/4-reasons-to ... 013/04/09/

Just had 2 biscuits and a low fat Holicks. Normal day, and it means I will sleep. Not sleeping is bad for you too-so I am following my normal practice of ignoring all reports unless they happen to fit in with what I am choosing to do. Might not be scientific but......

I've always been an owl. I used to enjoy spells on nights and now that FMS has totally messed up my sleep patterns I never crash until around 2:30am. Doing 16:8 I don't eat before 2pm but I do normally have a small snack at bedtime. Mostly its just a cube of cheese but I find if I go to bed without my BG is high the following morning.

All the studies are interesting but the one thing they all have in common is that they seem to highlight the way that everyone has to find what works for them as an individual.

This published in the New York Times today. I believe it implies the opposite and also comments on the accuracy of many of these studies.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/1 ... ref=health

All the studies are interesting but the one thing they all have in common is that they seem to highlight the way that everyone has to find what works for them as an individual.

Exactly. It's all relative and some of it is irrelevant. If you have a night time snacking problem and you quit eating after dinner; you might very well lose weight. It isn't necessarily about what time you stopped eating, though. It is about you changing your eating habits and eating less food, calories, sweets, carbs, whatever. If you are a person who eats seconds at every meal and grazes all day long; stopping night time snacks may have little to no effect at all.

The advice to eat breakfast because it will help you lose weight just doesn't make sense to me. Adding another meal seems pretty illogical if you are trying to lose weight. It is the same as the eat 5 times a day logic. You can tell by looking at me that I don't need to add a meal or eat more often! I really believe what you are eating and how many calories, carb, sugar grams are a lot more important than eating within 30 minutes of getting up or stopping snacks 3-4 hours before bedtime.

Misinterpretation of association studies is a problem; however, the study in the original post is not an association study.