As Nutrition Experts, we get asked this question a lot.   It is a misconception that late night eating will cause excessive fat storage and because of this, so many people go to bed hungry.  The question is, should you eat at night and if so, what should you eat?

The answer is “yes”, you should eat at night!  In order to stabilize blood sugar and prevent over-eating the next day, a late night, balanced meal is critical.  How many meals you eat in a day or whether or not you need a late night meal at all depends on how many hours you are awake during the day.  It helps to think of your body as a machine.  As long as you are awake, you should be fueling every few hours with a meal balanced in protein, carbohydrate and fat.

We recommend that you eat one hour within waking and every three to four hours until you go to sleep at night.  For example, if you eat dinner at 6 pm, and you don’t go to sleep until 10 pm, it’s important to grab a balanced meal or snack around 9 pm.  This will prevent blood sugar levels from dropping too low while you “fast” (or sleep) at night.  If you skip your last meal of the night, you run the risk of waking up very hungry because blood sugar levels can plummet too low.  This will cause your metabolism to slow down and may cause over-eating and carbohydrate cravings later in the day.  If you happen to have your dinner meal at 7 pm and you go to bed at 8 or 8:30 pm, you don’t need to worry about eating again.  Just catch some zzzz’s and make sure to eat one hour within waking. 

If you find that you’re not physically hungry for the last meal of the night (which is often the case), it’s important to eat anyways!  We recommend that you choose any one of the balanced meals on your plan and cut each ingredient in half or even in thirds to make a mini-meal that still has the correct ratios of protein, carbohydrate and fat.   If you’re not hungry before bed, a simple solution is to have a few bites of a protein bar to keep your blood sugar stable and your metabolism high.   

Remember, the key to achieving all of your nutrition and fitness goals is to stabilize blood sugar and keep your body in balance.  Eating a balanced meal or snack at night can help!

Excellent Video with detailed explanation by Venice Nutrition's creator and CEO Mark Macdonald: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5G2ENCKPSI