Midnight Snack: The Enemy of Your Weight Loss Plans

Posted on September 14, 2009 in Health & Medicine

It’s not just what you eat that matters, it’s when you eat it. This according to a new study from Northwestern University that proves a long-standing theory that late-night eating is more likely to cause weight gain than daytime meals.

Personal trainers and other weight loss gurus have long advocated not eating after 6 or 7 pm if you want to drop some pounds. However no one was sure if this was just because people tend to binge or indulge in unhealthy snacks under the cover of darkness (those midnight bowls of ice cream in front of the television that don’t count because no one else sees them).

To determine whether it was timing or content that contributes to weight gain, scientists fed two groups of mice the same diet, and allowed them the same amount of exercise, but fed them at different times. One group was given food during their normal waking hours, the other during the time that mice usually sleep. Since mice are nocturnal these hours are the opposite of human sleep cycles. They found that the mice who ate during their waking hours increased in body weight by 20%, while the mice who ate during their sleeping hours suffered a 48% increase in body weight.

The next step is to repeat the test on humans to see if the results are similar. The findings could have significant implications for our eating habits. Many people eat late at night after their busy day is over, possibly contributing to obesity and other health problems.