Is It Really That Bad To Eat Food At Night?

10Jan09

My answer to this question is “No.”

You see, weight control is not a matter of what time of day you consume calories, but rather on how the total number of calories you eat throughout the day compares to the total number you burn. As long as there’s a balance between calories taken in and expended, people who eat late in the evening do not gain weight.

The key here is eating the right foods in the right amounts (fist-size portions) every 3 – 3 ½ hours throughout the day and, of course, being active. If you do this, you won’t gain weight if you eat a meal late at night. I’ve been doing this my whole life and have never had a weight problem. In fact, I never eat my dinner before 9:00 p.m. It’s more like 9:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

The problem occurs when people eat to the extreme for emotional reasons or while they are “drunk.” Consuming a ½ pizza with sausage and extra cheese, bag of chips, 6 beers, and 3 shots of Tequila, is just not good for you at all, even if its eaten at 1:00 p.m.

I took notice of this cultural difference when I visited Brazil and Colombia. In these 2 countries, dinner is served between 9:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. every single evening. Additionally, it’s an occasion to enjoy quality time with family and friends, eat great food, and drink an occassional red wine or alcoholic drink. It’s never a “rushed” event. And being a guy, it’s not hard to notice the high number of beautiful and slim looking women in these 2 countries.

Eating late at night is also the way of eating in the Mediterranean Region, which happens to be one of the healthiest cultures of the world and has a very low incidence of obesity. Ask a Spaniard to eat dinner at 6:00 p.m. like so many Americans do and he’ll think you’re crazy.

Eating late at night is OK, really. Try it