Does nighttime eating make you gain weight?

[tickyul]

I currently do a 6-hour eating-window >>>> 8am to 2pm.

I could change that eating-window to any time of my choosing and I would not gain weight.

But, throw-in snacking, yes, I will start gaining weight.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by tickyul

I currently do a 6-hour eating-window >>>> 8am to 2pm.

I could change that eating-window to any time of my choosing and I would not gain weight.

But, throw-in snacking, yes, I will start gaining weight.

I'm exactly the same, when I eat in a 6-hour window, regardless of what time that window occurs, I stay in a perfect weight.

[reneeh63]

Originally Posted by alanaj7

Night time eating does make you gain weight. Here's why... you eat at night and go to sleep shortly thereafter. The food will sit on your stomach and digestion takes MUCH longer. This is why intermittent fasting is so successful. Start skipping dinner or only have a light soup or salad before 6pm and you will see and feel the difference.

At least part (and maybe most or all) of the reason intermittent fasting is effective is because people tend to eat less overall when the WINDOW of time for eating is shrunk. It isn't so much the time of day as it is how MUCH time PER day you're eating.

It's also possible the the kinds of food eaten later at night are more calorie laden on average. Just thinking extra helpings of dinner, ice cream and other desserts, etc. People don't tend to eat crudite at 9:00! So sure, if you can avoid eating those kinds of food in general (regardless of at night or not) then you're likely consuming fewer calories overall.

And I say all this having lost weight using intermittent fasting - for me it's easier to control the time of day I eat rather than to calorie count every item...and if it works I'm not that concerned about why. For the sake of science though, the final answer would be interesting.

[SwedishViking]

Based purely on the anecdotes of myself and people I know;
When eating at night a "little snack" often turns into a "a mayor snack of massive caloriecount".

I don't think there is that great effect of say the late insulin spike etc, I think it's just too easy to get into "binge mode" at night.

[Ghaati]

I dunno - I'll take a guess that anyone who works third shift is going to have a few suggestions on where to stuff this theory.

There is nothing magickal about "night time" that makes eating produce more weight gain than "day time." OVEReating makes you gain weight. Not the time of day you eat it.