How Nighttime Snacking is Keeping you Fat

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 (of 5)	Next

By Stephanie Karpinkse, M.S., R.D.

Enjoying a bag of chips at bedtime may be sabotaging your heart-healthy diet during the day. Learn how to control your after-hours snacking and have sweet dreams of slimmed-down days ahead.

Nothing is more frustrating than ending a day of eating healthful, heart-smart food by giving in to a bowl of ice cream at 9 p.m. And that's usually just the start. Feeling so bad about the ice cream, you eat a couple of cookies. Then you head to the fridge and take a bite of leftover lasagna.

Does this sound like you? You're not alone. Nighttime is a common time for people to indulge. A few quick nibbles may seem harmless, but overeating after dinner and before bedtime can cause you to pack on extra pounds, increasing your risk for heart disease and other health problems. People who are overweight also are more likely to develop high blood pressure and high levels of triglycerides and LDL (bad) cholesterol.

"Night is the most common time for snacking, yet it's also the time that you need the least energy," says Bonnie Taub-Dix, M.A., R.D., American Dietetic Association spokesperson, and a nutrition consultant specializing in weight loss. Over the course of the day, the extra calories that your body doesn't use for energy will be stored as fat, leading to a higher number on the scale.

What is it about the evening that makes us so ravenous?
Stress: Pent-up stress is one reason nighttime is trouble, Taub-Dix says. "People tend to eat so much at night because it's downtime or 'me time' after either a pressured day at the office or a hectic day at home," she says.

TV watching: Night also is the time we watch the most TV. "In between TV shows, you see lots of food commercials that remind you to eat what's in your kitchen," she says.

The more TV you watch, the more overweight you are likely to be. In a study published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, adults who watched more than two hours of TV a day consumed 137 more calories than those who watched less TV. Those extra calories don't seem like much, but they can add up to an extra 14 pounds a year.

To resist the nighttime snacking temptation, try our four-step battle plan.