Which is more harmful: eating midnight snacks or staying up late and being hungry?

This article was reviewed by Pa Li Ze, chief physician of nutrition, member of the Science Popularization Committee of the Chinese Nutrition Society

Everyone knows that "staying up late is bad for your health"

Especially late at night, the stomach feels more empty

More tangled

Should I have a midnight snack?

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Eating midnight snacks and staying up late with hunger

Which one is more harmful?

Is there any way to solve the hunger at night?

01

What are the dangers of eating midnight snacks?

In fact, everyone knows that eating midnight snacks is not good for health, but what are the specific dangers?

Cause obesity

The body's biological clock causes a greater demand for food during the day, and the body's metabolism is much faster. At night, the body's biological clock slowly approaches a resting state, and the demand for food and the rate of metabolism decrease.

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Therefore, if you have extra meals or midnight snacks in the middle of the night, the energy cannot be utilized and your body can only store it for you. The most likely consequence is obesity.

Causes stomach problems

When talking about eating, we have to mention the impact on the stomach. As the main digestive organ of the human body, the stomach, like other organs, also needs to rest and repair itself in the middle of the night. Frequent eating in the middle of the night will undoubtedly increase the burden on the stomach and easily cause stomach diseases.

Increased cholesterol

Although what people eat for midnight snacks varies from person to person, for most people, high-fat, high-salt, and high-protein foods account for a relatively large proportion. The intake of such foods will lead to a sudden increase in blood lipids and blood cholesterol in the body, thereby causing the liver to produce more low-density lipoprotein.

Low-density lipoprotein, commonly known as "bad cholesterol", is a contributing factor to coronary heart disease, cerebral infarction and other diseases in the body.

Reduced sleep quality

Eating midnight snacks has the most direct impact on the stomach and intestines, but it also has indirect effects on other internal organs of the body. The body cannot truly rest, which leads to increased excitement of the brain, making it impossible for any part of the body to enter a sleep state.

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Even if you can fall asleep, it will affect the quality of sleep, shorten the deep sleep time, and make you wake up easily, affecting your work and study efficiency the next day.

02

Should I eat when I’m hungry after staying up late?

The so-called staying up late means staying up late after dinner and not sleeping until late at night. This is an unhealthy lifestyle that is harmful to health. Staying up late for a long time will cause irreversible damage to the body's tissues and organs.

However, when you occasionally and inevitably need to stay up late, that is, when you need to continue working or studying for several hours 4 hours after dinner, it is not necessarily a bad idea to have a midnight snack. The question is how to eat? What to eat?

03

What should you eat for midnight snack?

Food suitable for late night snacks should meet the following conditions:

Low in fat, less in energy, and high in nutritional value;

Easy to digest, without adding burden to the stomach and intestines;

Have a certain feeling of fullness;

It does not affect sleep after consumption and helps improve physical strength and energy the next day.

After reading this, you may not have any specific ideas, so let me put it another way:

Choose ingredients with an appropriate amount of carbohydrates, high water content, and rich in calcium, potassium, and B vitamins. If the ingredients you choose contain high levels of tryptophan and threonine in the protein, it will help calm your nerves and emotions, and also enhance your physical strength.

Cooking methods should include boiling, braising, steaming, etc. that are easy to digest and absorb. Do not choose high-salt foods that are fried, deep-fried, or pickled.

Taking these factors into consideration, if you really need to eat at night, the following are recommended midnight snacks:

You can eat fruit for midnight snacks, but it is not recommended to eat only fruit. Because if you eat fruit when you are very hungry, you will find that the more you eat, the more appetite you will have. However, it is good to eat it with other foods, or eat it when you are not very hungry, so that the feeling of hunger will come later.

Although the midnight snacks recommended above are easy to digest, it is not recommended to go to bed right after eating. This is not good for the stomach and sleep. It is best to eat a midnight snack 1 to 2 hours before going to bed. If you suddenly feel hungry before going to bed, you can eat a small amount of food. This way you won't be too hungry to sleep, and your stomach won't work too hard overtime.

Source: Science Popularization China WeChat Official Account

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