Can you lose weight by skipping dinner? It's not true

I often hear people say that skipping dinner can help you lose weight, and more and more people around me are following suit. After all, skipping dinner is much easier than exercising, so can skipping dinner really help you lose weight?

Some people have found that they actually lost a little weight after trying not to eat dinner for a few days. But it should be clear that not eating dinner is actually a dieting behavior, and most of the weight lost is water in the body. The body's weight is not only controlled by fat, but also a large part is controlled by water. For an adult, the water content in the body accounts for about 65% of the body weight. After we eat, food is converted into energy, which initially floats in the blood in the form of glucose to maintain our body's energy metabolism. If there is excess energy, glycogen will be generated and stored in the body [1]. When dieting to lose weight, the human body lacks energy, and the body will break down the stored glycogen to provide energy. The decomposition of glycogen requires a lot of water, so the first thing to lose when not eating dinner is water.

When the liver glycogen is basically consumed, the body will start to break down some muscles for energy. Although the weight has decreased, the skin may become loose. And when you take in food afterwards, the first thing the body does is to store fat, leading to weight gain. In addition, some people think that if they don’t eat dinner on the first day, they can eat more during the day on the second day, which is more likely to cause weight rebound.

In addition to failing to achieve the effect of weight loss, skipping dinner for a long time can also cause other damage to the body. Many people who skip dinner will be in a state of hunger for a long time at night. Long-term hunger will affect the digestive function of the stomach, leading to digestive tract diseases such as gastritis. People who diet for a long time, are vegetarians, are often hungry, or lose weight too quickly have insufficient calorie supply, which can easily lead to liver metabolic disorders. Fat will accumulate in the liver, leading to the appearance of fatty liver [2]. In addition, if there is not enough energy supply for a long time, nerve cells cannot work normally, which will lead to cognitive decline.

Of course, for some people who are overweight, they can control their diet appropriately, limit their energy intake, and consider skipping dinner. But this also depends on their usual eating habits and physical needs. If you feel hungry if you skip dinner, you can eat some low-energy foods appropriately, or control your total energy intake for the day and reasonably distribute the proportions of the three meals. In some cases, if you eat too much at noon or have already eaten in the afternoon, you can also reduce or skip dinner, but it is not recommended to do so for a long time. Dieting and overeating will damage our bodies.

In summary, skipping dinner does not achieve a good weight loss effect, but will damage our body. For people who want to lose weight, it is more important to consume energy reasonably. You can control the time of dinner, don't eat too late, and it is best not to eat three hours before going to bed. It is recommended to eat some light and non-greasy food for dinner, and you can eat more vegetables, fruits, and high-protein and low-fat meat. Reasonable exercise is also very important for people who want to lose weight. Diet and exercise are the best way to lose weight.

[1] Tang Tang. Why is it difficult to lose weight by skipping dinner? Northerners (Reading), 2018, 000: P.51-52

[2] Tsai JH, Ferrell LD, Tan V, et al. Aggressive non-alcoholic steatohepatitis following rapid weight loss and/or malnutrition. Mod Pathol, 2017,