In ancient times, illnesses were treated with powder made from dried mouse tails. Then they decided that this did not help and came up with homeopathy. Now homeopathy has also been torn to smithereens.

It used to be that people gained weight if they ate after 6 pm. Now doctors are already proving that after 6 and generally at night, eating is not only not harmful, but even beneficial.

Who to believe after this? I think that each person solves this question for himself through trial. For example, I go to bed at half past eleven, and have dinner at seven in the evening.

If I don’t wait until bedtime and eat again at 10 o’clock, then the next day I’ll definitely gain a little weight. I weigh myself almost every day, so the numbers back it up.

In general, read this article simply as an interesting story. You can draw conclusions for yourself, or you may not. But the article is interesting, especially where it’s about choosing food for the night.

As always, I'll be commenting on some things. italics. Because from the time I came to the USA, I was faced with the problem of excess weight. And I’m not the only overweight emigrant.

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Going to bed on an empty stomach is no longer fashionable and even harmful. Recent scientific research in this area has convincingly proven that the practice of going to bed hungry leads to sleep disturbances and serious metabolic problems.

But you shouldn’t overeat at night either. How to maintain a reasonable balance so that a snack before bed is beneficial for both sleep and metabolism. And in general, eating at night and losing weight – isn’t this the stuff of science fiction?

Eating before bed is a physiological norm

Kids know very well that a proper late dinner helps them sleep soundly and feel refreshed in the morning. For small children, overnight cereal porridge with milk is the same norm as for an adult - a cup of coffee for morning vigor.

A well-known fact: a baby fed before bed sleeps well and soundly throughout the night. And the best dish for this is milk porridge. That is, a combination of long carbohydrates and protein. And note: most kids have an excellent, fast metabolism, which cannot be said about adults.

I’ll say right away that if I went to bed and suddenly felt hungry, then I 100% won’t fall asleep. I’ll toss and turn, and then I’ll put on my slippers, go down to the kitchen and eat, and eat properly. So I don’t take risks anymore, and if I suddenly want to eat in bed, I go and eat right away.

Where did the idea of ​​“don’t eat after 6 pm” or “don’t eat 3-4 hours before bed” come from? This idea does not and never has had any direct connection with a healthy lifestyle. These recommendations relate to weight loss systems developed in the last century, and based on the erroneous theory of burning fat.

According to this theory, our body, experiencing energy hunger, begins to use fats stored for future use to maintain the required level of energy. Allegedly, this is why, when we go to bed hungry, we start the process of burning fat in our sleep. A convenient theory - sleep and lose weight. And the scales in the morning, showing a plumb line, were “proof” of this.

However, in reality everything is much sadder. During sleep, a person who falls asleep on an empty stomach has a sharply slower metabolism, fat deposits become an emergency reserve, and the body begins to release the missing energy from the most accessible and simple source - muscle cells. Therefore, overnight you lose not fat tissue, but muscle tissue. Moreover, with the very first meal, your body will begin to store additional fat reserves for future use.

Why do nutritionists spend so much time talking about the dangers of eating at night? Because it is difficult for us to adhere to moderation, especially in food. It is easier to ban something altogether than to try to limit the portion and composition of food. Analyze your evening plate and you will understand how far its contents are from the concept of healthy dietary food.

It is indeed difficult for many people to stop once they have sat down to dinner. And almost no one thinks about calorie content and serving sizes. Often dinner is supplemented with a glass of wine or other alcoholic drink, or tea with sugar. And the calorie content of the evening meal turns out to be hopelessly exceeded. There really is more harm than good from such a dinner. Therefore, dinner was declared “outlawed.” Radical, but effective.

Now you know what to eat at night – you can and even need to. But this does not mean that you have been given an indulgence for a night meal. As we have already said, late dinner has a number of important restrictions.

As a matter of fact, eating before bed cannot be called a full dinner. It's more of a late-night snack to improve metabolism and... sound sleep. And in order not to turn it into a night gluttony, you need to follow a few simple rules.

1. Count calories

A healthy portion of food at night should not exceed 200-250 kcal. A little more - and there will already be too much, which will certainly be deposited on your sides. A little less - and your body will begin to “eat” itself at night. As mentioned above, during sleep, a starved body without energy will destroy not fat cells, but muscle cells, because it is easier to get energy from them.

That is, by going to bed on an empty stomach, you are guaranteed to trigger the so-called catabolic process of “muscle drying,” which has nothing to do with burning fat. Agree, losing weight by losing muscle tissue is a bad idea. After all, fat (and with it the hated cellulite) is not going anywhere.

An energy value of 200-250 kcal is a reasonable amount of energy that will keep your body at rest, without forcing you to look for reserve sources in muscle tissue. In addition, this will be enough to prevent your metabolism from slowing down.

Keep in mind that these 200-250 kcal are not a “bonus”, but should be taken into account by you in your daily calorie intake from food. If you keep track of calories (and for those who want to lose weight, this is necessary), keep in mind that you should “save” these 200-250 kcal for a late-night snack during the day.

2. Attention to composition

Your late night snack should be a combination of long lasting carbohydrates and protein. The former are important for the slow release of energy that will fuel the body at night. The second is for the restoration of muscle tissue cells.

It is important that the foods you choose for a late-night snack contain the following beneficial substances (or contribute to their synthesis):

- Tryptophan.

Tryptophan is a basic amino acid, the importance of which for normal sleep cannot be overestimated. It is one of the essential proteins and is involved in the production of serotonin and melatonin. The first is responsible for emotional well-being, the second is an important regulator of biological rhythms, that is, it controls periods of sleep and wakefulness, and therefore is very important especially for people who have difficulty falling asleep.

Tryptophan cannot be synthesized inside the body, but can be obtained from food, primarily protein. The source protein can be of either animal or plant origin. Hard cheeses, processed cheese, shrimp, crab meat, rabbit meat, turkey and chicken meat, and legumes (peas and beans) are rich in tryptophan. This amino acid is present in smaller but sufficient quantities in cottage cheese, oatmeal, buckwheat, millet, beef, some types of fish and in chicken eggs. However, here lies the main catch.

The fact is that simply consuming protein foods, even those rich in tryptophan, will not automatically increase the level of this amino acid in the brain. In order for our brain to receive the required amount of tryptophan, it is necessary to supplement the protein diet with complex carbohydrates. The complex interaction of proteins and long carbohydrates gives tryptophan a “green corridor” towards the brain.

— Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone that regulates our biorhythms. It is also called the sleep hormone. To synthesize it, in addition to foods containing tryptophan, you can consume foods that are involved in the production of its precursor, serotonin, as well as foods that are directly related to the production of melatonin in the brain. These are bananas, cherries, cherries, almonds, pine nuts, and whole grain bread. By the way, cherries and cherries, according to some studies, are a natural source of the sleep hormone.

Oatmeal with milk and chamomile tea have a beneficial effect on the production of melatonin. Actually, this set of products can be an excellent option for a late snack: oatmeal (not instant cereal) with milk - this is a mixture of long carbohydrates and proteins. The main thing is to maintain portion sizes.

We have melatonin tablets at home. For me personally, they simply have destructive power. I use them extremely rarely, only when really necessary. But I always fall asleep after 5 minutes. It’s just hard to wake up after them, my head isn’t right.

— Calcium

This trace element is important not only for bones. It is involved in the synthesis of melatonin with the participation of tryptophan. Calcium is also important in the conduction of nerve impulses, so a lack of it can ruin your sleep.

The best sources of calcium before bed are considered low-fat (but not low-fat!) dairy products, primarily milk and yogurt.

Yeah, I also read somewhere recently that cottage cheese is not at all the main source of calcium. But I don’t remember the main thing. Something from plants. In short: they write, then they refute.

— Magnesium

Magnesium helps reduce the production of the stress hormone cortisol, which interferes with a good night's sleep. A lack of magnesium, by the way, often leads to cramping of the calf muscles at rest.

If your legs regularly cramp in bed, pay attention to the level of magnesium in your blood - most likely you do not have enough of it. In addition, magnesium is an important participant in energy metabolism.

Great sources of magnesium to snack on before bed include almonds, cashews, peanuts, banana and bran bread. Buckwheat and wild rice are rich in magnesium.

— Potassium

Potassium is one of the most important microelements for life; without it, our cells will simply stop working. This is one of the participants in metabolism. And at night, potassium is responsible for relieving muscle tension. Like magnesium, it prevents nighttime leg cramps.

Good sources of potassium before bed include banana, dried apricots, prunes, raisins, almonds, pine nuts, peanuts, cashews, walnuts, baked potatoes, and tuna.

They say that bananas make you feel better. And just recently I read somewhere that these are all lies. One way or another: try it yourself, decide for yourself. I love and eat bananas. True, not so often.

What could be your healthy late dinner?

The choice is yours, just remember the quantity so that a healthy snack does not turn into a useless (or even harmful) late-night gluttony. So, before you go to bed, you can eat:

Oatmeal with milk. Milk must have at least 2.5% fat content. Skim milk is a practically useless product. Milk fat helps in the absorption of calcium and protein, and is also a source of vitamins A and D. Skim milk lacks this milk fat, and therefore its benefits for late-night snacking. You can add a slice of banana or a little cherry to your oatmeal.

Boiled egg with a piece of whole grain bread. If you do not want to add calories to this snack, remove the yolk from the egg and eat only the white, or half the yolk.

A glass of warm milk with a small amount of dried apricots or nuts of your choice(remember the calorie content of nuts and do not overload on them).

A cup of warm milk with a small oatmeal cookie.

Milkshake with banana and cherry. Please note: if you use frozen berries, they must be thawed first, as the overnight cocktail should not be cold. Cold food before bed is not advisable. For greater benefits, add some oatmeal or flax seeds to your smoothie.

Whole grain toast with bran and tuna. Tuna should not be in oil, but in its own juice. Instead of tuna, you can use seafood, such as crab meat or shrimp.

Using the information received, you will surely be able to create your own recipes for a healthy snack before bed. Let us remind you that there are two main conditions: a combination of carbohydrates and proteins, as well as a calorie content of 200-250 kcal.

Advice: To make the most of a late dinner, get a small kitchen scale to weigh your portion. This purchase will quickly pay for itself with good health, sound sleep and the desired plumb lines on the floor scales.

I’ll get in here again for the last time. Kitchen scales like the one in the picture start at $6 on ebay. I don't think that's too much of a price. Moreover, with their help you will find out how much you actually ate. I'm not even talking about the fact that such scales are useful simply for cooking.