If food is an emotion for you, we won’t be surprised if you have fallen prey to binge eating. Are you someone who eats healthy and eats well all throughout the day and then starts craving for desserts or snacks after your dinner and you just want to wind up your day snacking on something? Don’t worry we will not consider you alone here. And believe it or not a majority of people who are following a healthier diet throughout the day are the ones who end up binge eating before they sleep.
Have you ever wondered why the sudden urge of eating unhealthy just before sleeping comes to you? The question about this is to understand if this has something to do with psychology. Unless you feel that your blood sugar levels are low, we can conclude that it is a psychological behaviour which can turn into a habit. And sticking to this habit of eating at night just before sleeping will become detrimental especially for your weight management and healthy blood sugar levels. Several studies show that eating a lot of calories just before sleeping or late at night will help us put on unhealthy weight and will obstruct our weight loss journey if we Are on one.
What is the impact of eating/overheating just before bed?
Eating beyond control just before you hit the bed can lead to numerous health problems, including:
Rice in blood sugar levels
When we eat excess carbohydrates just before sleeping it can result in a spike in and let sugar levels during morning. And if you wake up with high blood sugar levels, it becomes very difficult for you to bring those sugar levels under control and feel energetic throughout the day to carry out your daily routine. The American diabetes Association says that during morning the fasting blood sugar levels especially with those people who are diagnosed with type two diabetes should be between 80-130 MG/DL. If you wake up with more than the recommended blood sugar level, then we highly recommend that you reduce your carbohydrate intake during dinner and not indulge in any carbohydrates after dinner or at midnight.
Disturbed sleep
When we drink or eat too much just before we head to bed, it can lead to potential increase in the number of bathroom visits or also heartburn — all of these disrupt sleep. Studies show that lack of sleep leads to a negative impact on our blood sugar levels and might also spike the hemoglobin A1cS.
Did you know that disturbed sleeping has a direct impact on hormones as well. It starts giving us the feeling of us so we’re hungry or way too full in the middle of the night. When your sleep is disturbed, your sleep efficiency is lowered, this decreases the satiety leptin hormone, and increases the levels of hunger hormone in our body called ghrelin. And most importantly, if you don’t get adequate sleep during the night, we will end up feeling way more hungry throughout the day and will end up eating extra calories which leads to weight gain instantly.
How can one prevent themselves from binge eating late night
We have put together some simple strategies that might help you avoid overeating before you hit the bed. Read on.
Eating regular meals
One fool-proof method of preventing yourself from binging late at night is to ensure that you do not skip your dinner and eat a healthy dinner. Skipping your meals increases the risk of hypoglycaemia that is low blood sugar level chances and also increases your urge to end up overheating later in the night. Always aim to eat at least three well-balanced meals and one snack daily. Inclusion of snacks between years old mails will help you gain control over your binge eating problem. By following this you will have a good night sleep and eat less during the night and this will make you feel hungry first thing in the morning and your body is ready to eat that plate of healthy breakfast. Always remember do not skip your breakfast at any cost.
Get rid of trigger Foods
You know that saying out of sight is like out of mind? If you are aware that certain foods when you eat them during the evening can make you over eat them or binge eat them, then it is best to avoid them and not buy them at all. Restart your kitchen with healthier foods. So that if you feel like snacking on something, you are snacking on something that is nutritious and satisfies your cravings in a healthier manner.
Creating new habits
If watching television at night makes you walk to the kitchen and start searching cabinets for snacks, then you should probably stop watching television at night or break that habit by watching it somewhere else and not within the vicinity of the kitchen. Aim to pick places that are far away from your kitchen. Or maybe start brushing your teeth while watching TV on your phone, this might also help curb those cravings.
If you’re already struggling with weight or if you have put in a lot of hard work to lose those extra kilos, you surely don’t want to get back at it, right? If you are having trouble getting rid of your habit of binge eating and it is somehow related to stress or your emotions, we recommend that you consult a doctor and understand how to modify your behavior for good. A therapist can also help you in this regard.
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