Eating before bed-time

jrstevens

Oh really. Who are "they"? I am a sports nutritionist MS RD and have never advised athletes to avoid carbs within the 3 hour period before bedtime. I also personally eat carbs in this window and know many others that do too with no ill effect.

JS

Future-pro

Its been proven that eating before bed time has no negative effects what so ever in fact it may be beneficial to a good nights sleep as if stomach is full the body is satisfied meaning you can get a good nights sleep.

STS901

Tom Weede. Senior Editor: Mens Fitness; author: Men's Fitness, Muscle and Fitness, Natural Health

"Eating a carb heavy meal before bed can trigger an insulin response while you sleep. Over time, insulin tends to cause an increase in bodyfat storage." His exception is if you train at night, because carbs replenish glycogen stores depleted during workouts.

STS901

Proven? That's one hell of a strong word. Got a source?

Future-pro

http://www.menshealth.co.uk/answers/answer.phtml?id=76 weight gain only comes if you eat your regular meals as well as a meal close to bedtime then weight gain is expected because you are eating more calories.

Felt_Rider

Typically by eating a balanced meal or by mixing in certain food items the insulin response can be changed.

An example late night meal of

8 ounces of chicken breast
1 cup of broccoli
1 teaspoon of flax oil
2 cups of cooked pasta
8 ounces of milk

The mixture of fat, fiberous carbs and protein will impact insulin release.

Most of us do not need a "carb heavy" meal before bedtime, but most of us also do not need to be fearful of eating a typical balanced meal before bedtime either.

Another factor is recovery and that typically happens during certain sleep zones. So one thing to consider if you go to bed with hunger pains how deeply will you sleep and will that interfere with recovery?

There are a lot of "what ifs" to this discussion.

zaskar

Eating before bed has nothing to do with gaining weight, it's total calorie consumpution for the day. i eat thru out the day every 3 hours. and 1-2 hours before bed i slam about 1k calories down to get me thru the night. im 5ft7 138lbs 10% bf and consume 3-4k calories a day. when i eat less i gain!!

jrstevens

a carb heavy meal triggers an insulin response at any time of the day; it makes no difference that it's before bedtime. Since my diet is 70% carbohydrate I guess I should be obese according to this theory...

JS

STS901

That means it's proven? This bloke sites one editor's opinion and you take that as end all fact?

Future-pro

Look i'm right your wrong simple weight gain only happens if you eat your regular meals as well as a meal before bedtime therefore weight gain is expected because you are eating extra calories

STS901

So then you don't believe in eating before for energy and immediately after your workouts for recovery then? It's all about total calorie consumption and that's it?
Are you familiar with the measurement "basal metabolic rate"? It is a measurement of how many calories your body burns at complete rest, and yes, someone who is in very strong cardiovascular condition would burn more at rest. Now I have your height and weight, and we will give you an age of 32 for the sake of completing the formula.
so here goes:
BMR=66+(13.7X62.72kg)+(5X170.18cm)-(6.8X32)
BMR=1492.56
Considering cyclists do tend to be in very strong cardiovascular shape we will give you a 1.3multiplier (you burning 30% more calories at rest than another 5'7 138lb 32yr old)
BMR(1.3)=1940.32
Divide that by 24 and you get your number of calories burned per hour of sleep. In this case it is 80.84
Over an eight hour night you burn 646.72 calories, therefore you are in excess by ~350.
For you to burn the 1000 calories in eight hours your BMR would have to be 3000cal/24hr.

That is twice the baseline. The multiplier for an extremely active person is 1.9, but that is not the basal, that is full day, so I have no doubt that you are burning 3,000 calories a day but at night your calorie consumption isn't the same and shouldnt be treated as such.

The problem with this subject is it isnt something that can be experimented on with a control using the exact environment of the variable since there is not a placebo for food. Everyone has their belief on the situation so we fling different studies at one another til we're blue in the face.

Here is a thought though. For two weeks eat your 1000 calorie meal at least 3 hours before bed time and see if there is any difference over normal fluctuation you currently experience. Your daily caloric intake will still be the same and if there's no difference what have you lost?
Cheers

zaskar

Of course i eat before and after rides. your not considering the cals i burn on the bike 11-15 hours a week.

jrstevens

let me get this staright; you chastise the other poster because he used the word "proven" and here you go quoting the editor of fitness magazines sold next to tabloids in the checkout line at the supermarket. Let me guess your mother is a dwarf alien that gave birth to you rectally when she was 10.

Future-pro

To further prove i'm right http://www.ediets.com/news/article....i_1741946/cid_1#http://arthritis.about.com/od/weigh...lossmyths_2.htm
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/m...rticlekey=21744