Does eating late at night really make you fat?
It's a phrase we've all heard at least once:"If you eat after 8pm, you'll get fat."
It's as if there's some magical alarm in our bodies that decides to turn every late-night bite into a superfluous kilo. But is it really that simple?
Spoiler: as is often the case in nutrition, the answer is a little more nuanced than we'd like to believe. Let's untangle it all together ;)
Where does this idea come from?
The idea that eating late makes you put on weight comes from a rather simple (and a little quick) logic:
- In the evening, we're less active.
- So we "burn" less energy.
- So the calories consumed would be stored as fat.
On the face of it, it sounds coherent. But in reality, our bodies are far more complex: they continue to consume energy even at rest (thank you, basic metabolism), including while we sleep.
And above all, it's not the mealtime that makes us fat, but the total intake over the day!
What really counts is what you eat, how much you eat, and how often you eat it, not whether you swallow your dinner at 7:30 or 9:30 p.m....
What the studies say
Some research has indeed shown that eating very late (after 10 or 11 pm) can be associated with a higher risk of weight gain.
But beware: often, it's not because of the time of day, but rather because of the nature of the food eaten late at night.
Sweet nibbles, salty snacks, larger portions in front of the TV... In short, we're not talking about the little bowl of homemade soup or the mixed salad!
Another point to note: sleep.
Eating late is sometimes linked to poor quality sleep, and we now know that a lack of sleep disrupts hunger hormones (ghrelin and leptin), which can encourage cravings and weight gain.
So do you have to eat at 6pm to stay slim?
Not necessarily. It's not a question of fixed times, but rather of overall consistency:
A light, balanced meal in the evening is no problem, even at 9pm.
On the other hand, having an aperitif-pizza-dessert at 11 p.m. every night is likely to have an impact... but not just because of the time!
The human body likes regularity: trying to keep mealtimes stable, avoiding skipping meals to compensate, and favouring lighter dinners can really make a difference.
In short: it's not the time, it's the balance.
Eating late isn't a problem in itself. What counts is :
- The quality of the meal (vegetables, proteins, a bit of good fat...)
- Quantity (listen to your real hunger, not your nibbling cravings)
- Regularity of meals
- And respect for sleep, a precious ally in maintaining a stable weight.
Basically, there's no need to put pressure on yourself if dinner goes on too long one evening. It's better to enjoy your meal at leisure, listen to your sensations, and keep up your good habits as the days go by!
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(Sources: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2022).
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