Are you a guilty midnight snacker? When the lights are dimmed and you should be nestled in your bed, do you find yourself drawn to the refrigerator? You may feel a particularly strong sense of guilt when hunger motivates you to visit the kitchen at night. After all, don’t the diet gurus warn you of the dangers of eating at night? According to those who are supposedly “in the know”, late night eating is a sure-fire recipe for weight gain. Or is it? Is eating at night bad?

Is Eating at Night Bad?

Is eating at night bad for the average person?

How did the idea that eating at night is bad get started in the first place? The concept that late night snacking leads to weight gain comes from the idea that you have a lower activity level in the evening and are, thus, less likely to burn off calories you consume at night. Although this may intuitively make sense, it hasn’t been born out in studies that have addressed this issue. Naturally, if you raid the refrigerator at midnight and eat a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, several nights in a row, the scale will eventually reflect it, but this relates more to the fact that you’ve eaten more calories throughout the entire day than your body could burn off, not the fact that you ate it at midnight.

Eating at night may be bad for a small group of people.

There is a small group of people who suffer from a syndrome known as night eating disorder which prompts them to eat large quantities of food during the evening hours, usually after depriving themselves of food during the day. Sometimes, they are unconscious of this behavior and are unaware of how many calories they’re consuming. A person who suffers form this disorder is obviously at higher risk for weight gain, although this condition affects only around two percent of the population.

Eating at night may not be a problem for most people.

For most people eating at night is no different than eating during the day. The bottom line is how many calories you’re taking in vs. how many you’re burning off. A problem can arise if you continuously restrict calories during the day so you can indulge in a big meal in the evening. Starving yourself all day can trigger overeating in the evening which can be a source of weight gain. Plus, depriving yourself of food for long periods of time may cause the metabolism to slow down to conserve energy.

Is eating at night bad? Probably not, as long as pick a healthy snack and include the calories in your daily total. The key is to be conscious of how much you’re eating and know when to stop.