Depending on the interval between dinner time and bedtime, there may be a night hunger. And a light snack is really a good idea: it prevents you from breaking into the fridge at dawn or waking up hungry with the world at breakfast. But you should avoid some types of food at night if you want to lose weight!
Some types of food can have unwanted effects, such as making you restless during sleep. Either encourage your body to overeat the next day, or decrease your fat-burning GoSlim.
And you don't want any of that, right? Sleepless nights reduce your body's insulin sensitivity and muscle growth hormone levels.
This cycle causes them to increase their levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, according to a 2015 survey published in Diabetologia.
It seems like a healthy way to satisfy your sweet tooth before bed. But this snack is exactly what you should avoid with food at night: caffeine and theobromine (another stimulant). In addition, chocolate contains sugar.
And while the former two can only disrupt your sleep, the latter can directly sabotage your effort to lose weight. Although dark chocolate has a lower sugar content, the time is not ideal for consuming it.
Some of this sugar becomes energy to feed your body during your night rest. But what "leftover" ends up stored as fat, since you are not active when you are sleeping.
Coconut oil and other saturated fats
Foods with high levels of saturated fat can satiate and help you speed up the weight loss process. But when you choose these foods at night, they are able to interfere with your sleep.
That's because saturated fat can relax the valve that separates the lower end of the esophagus and stomach. Since fat takes time to digest, if the last meal of the night is rich in this nutrient, you may experience reflux. In addition to being unpleasant in itself, it tends to disturb your sleep.
Pepper and spicy sauces
alimentos à noite
Even if it is to dip celery in it, eating sauce or any spicy food at least an hour before bedtime is asking for heartburn or a bad sleep.
Just like fatty foods, spicy foods can relax the muscle ring that separates the esophagus from the stomach. And that allows any acid to ferment in your belly and rise. This happens even more often when you're lying in bed and you don't have the gravity to keep things in place.
Red wine
Okay, we also heard some experts say that a glass of red wine before bed can do you good. But this is not exactly true. As much as we love the antioxidant package in wine, alcohol is not advisable before bed.
Sure, you'll sleep fast, but you'll struggle to get into a deep, restorative stage of sleep.
In fact, in the name of science, some women drank wine before bed and researchers at the University of Melbourne found that their sleeping brains exhibited activity similar to what is seen in people who receive mild electric shocks. So for each glass of wine you drink, wait for an hour before going to bed.
Baked delights of sugar and white flour
Cookies and brownies are the hardest things to resist before bed. But when you're trying to get in shape, you better leave them for the afternoon snack.
As we explained, sugar works as fuel in your body, making you more willing and alert - everything you don't want before bed. So, if you eat some cookies before you go to bed, the sugar will probably end up becoming fat.