Late-night snacking, even with ‘healthy’ foods, is dangerous

Late-night snacking, even with ‘healthy’ foods, is dangerous: Top scientist explains why

Snacking late at night, even on healthy foods, can negatively impact your health. Research indicates that eating after 9 PM is associated with increased belly fat, inflammation, and unfavorable blood lipid levels. This is because our body's internal clocks are disrupted when we eat out of sync with our natural rhythms, potentially leading to altered food processing and metabolism.

Do you have a habit of snacking? When do you like to have a snack? Mid morning, evening, or night? If your answer is night, you are putting yourself at great risk. This is true, even if your snack belongs to the ‘healthy’ category.

While a snack is ideally a tiny meal, meant to curb hunger pangs, interestingly, it contributes to one-third of the daily calories, or even more. Sarah Berry, a Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at King's College London and chief scientist at ZOE, has cautioned against snacking at night.

Why snacking at night is bad for health

Professor Berry, who focuses on precision nutrition, postprandial metabolism, food, and fat structure, spoke about how most people end up snacking at night. “30% of people were snacking after nine at night. We found that if you snack late at night was associated with unfavourable health outcomes. This is a lot in line with other published research from very tightly controlled clinical trials,” she said, on the Diary of a CEO podcast.

Late Dinners Linked to High Cholesterol Levels, Experts Warn

What happens if you snack at night? Professor Berry points out that late-night snacking results in the worst case of adiposity, which is the fat around the belly. According to her, this also contributes to higher levels of inflammation, worse levels of blood lipids, and cholesterol.

Even snacking on ‘healthy foods’ at night has adverse effects

What’s more surprising is that, even if you snack on the so-called ‘healthy foods’, your risk of diseases is not lower. “We found that this was even if you were snacking on healthy snacks,” she shares. The scientist further elaborated on how the timing of eating is important when it comes to nutrition. “There's this whole new area in nutrition called chrono nutrition, which is all about the timing of eating. Now, we are really starting to understand that every cell in our body has its own little body clock. And that clock is shaped by when we eat as well as the light-day cycle. And if we're eating out of sync with those clocks, those millions and trillions of clocks in our body, we know that we process the food slightly differently, we metabolise it slightly differently, it may have a different impact on our health. And that's what our research shows as well. So eating after nine o'clock isn't great for your health,” she concludes.

So what to do? Avoid snacking after 9 pm, ideally 8. This would save you from the risk of cardiovascular disease, higher blood cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian before making any changes to your diet or eating habits.