Solution midnight snack

This myth is not entirely true

Everyone has heard or read somewhere that you shouldn't eat anything at night or at least less so you don't get fat. However, this is not true. Excess calories make you fat. This means that you are adding more energy (in the form of calories) to the body than you burn (basal metabolic rate plus physical activity) causing you to gain baody fat in the long run. On the other hand if you burn more calories than you consume you will lose body weight.

If the energy consumed is the same as the amount of energy supplied, you will neither lose nor gain body weight [1]. Studies show that it does not matter when you consume excess calories during the day [2]. There is even a study that states that eating late tends to favor the percentage of fat-free mass [3].

back to the myth overview

Sources:

[1] German Society for Nutrition (DGE) (Ed.): Selected questions andAnswers to energy supply, on the Internet at www.dge.de (14.11.2020).

[2] Kant AK et al .: Evening eating and subsequent long-term weight change in anational cohort. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 21 (1997) 407-412.

[3] Keim NL et al .: Weight loss is greater with consumption of large morning meals andFat-free mass is preserved with large evening meals in woman on a controlled weightreduction regime. J Nutr 127 (1997) 75-82.