“Eating late is not a good idea for two reasons: firstly, at night there is a risk of eating more than you can spend and all the “leftover”, as you can imagine, will be stored by the body”, says. neurologist, associate professor of the Department of Surgical Diseases of the Faculty of Medicine of Synergy University, Alexandra Moskvicheva.
Secondly, the expert continues, at night, obeying biological rhythms, the body, in principle, reduces metabolic processes. Therefore, the gastrointestinal tract may simply not have time to process everything that is eaten, causing a feeling of discomfort and heaviness in the stomach in the morning.
“But, of course, the demonization of the value of 18:00 on the dial is excessive; lately this has increasingly become a source of jokes. Nutritionists recommend eating dinner at least 4 hours before bedtime. ”Moskvicheva notes.
According to preventive nutritionist, expert in the functional approach to body restoration and naturopathic methods, Dmitry Semiryadov, the timing of food consumption will not specifically affect weight loss or gain. In this context, the only thing that matters is how many calories you spend and consume on average per day (and therefore per week/month, etc.). The body doesn’t care when you eat. If you have excess energy, you will “save” it in reserve (weight gain), if you don’t have enough energy, you will take it from reserves (weight loss).
“Unfortunately, many “wannabe fitness gurus” on the Internet do not see the difference between the goal of losing weight and the goal of getting/staying healthy and therefore engage in outright sabotage, declaring: “You can eat when you want.” , even at night, because the main thing is calories.” “Everyone can have sugar and milk, the main thing is calories,” “Eat sweets at least every day, the main thing is to conserve calories,” she says. Semiryadov, these new “fitness nutritionists” give advice to their clients who really manage to lose weight and, due to lack of medical education and inexperience, begin to “believe in themselves” and think that everyone can do it. Spreading harmful advice on social media.
“Their fatal mistake is that they work with healthy people (after all, sick people do not go to the gym) and do not care for the sick patients that doctors care for, and competent doctors understand perfectly well that the same dairy products and sugar. “They have many contraindications, especially due to the state of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), the presence of hidden allergies, glucose/insulin levels or a pronounced addiction to sweets,” Semiryadov emphasizes.
The same principle applies to late meals, says the dietitian. In healthy people, eating a large and late dinner can affect the quality of sleep by making it difficult for the lungs to work. However, a small snack is acceptable.
“But the main problem is that about 80% of people have complaints about the gastrointestinal tract, and for them having a late dinner (less than 2-3 hours before bedtime – RG note) is in principle contraindicated, since it can worsen the heartburn. or disturbances in the intestinal microflora (putrefaction/flatulence processes) For people with even a slight increase in blood glucose or insulin levels, a late dinner will definitely increase your sugar level in the morning. Remember: many things that do not interfere with weight loss can still prevent you from being a healthy person,” warns Semiryadov.
In summary, the nutritionist said that eating after 18:00 is quite acceptable, but after 20-21 hours most people still should not do it.
Akulina Bakhturina, head of the teacher training department and head trainer of the Levita international network of ballet and stretching studios, explained to Rossiyskaya Gazeta how simple physical exercises can be introduced into the daily routine that can be performed “in passing”, several times. a day, during some other activities. For example, climbing stairs in an unusual way (not from the toe, but from the heel – approx. “RG”) will help keep the body in good shape, and the Relevé exercise will work to strengthen the muscles of the feet and lower. legs and relieve general leg fatigue.
