Eating lateIJ You may be at the risk of metabolic disorders, says Dr Aditi Sharma
Eating late at night is becoming a trend lately and it is one of the many lifestyle changes that we are witnessing in our society today. While eating late may be a necessity for some people because of changing work schedules, it is just cool to be up quite late at night and having dinner late for many youngsters, particularly among men and women who are unmarried. But there are various irreversible health hazards associated with eating in late hours which can have bearing of the person’s overall energy levels, medical condition and even appearance since it often results in weight gain.
Eating late means the body burns much fewer calories during the night making the person more susceptible to putting on fat.
Humans are mammals and mammals are programmed by circadian rhythms. This means humans are evolved to wake up and do activities mainly during the daytime. Humans have developed this rhythm in the last billions of years and our bodies are now are built to perform many of the physiological processes during the day.
Metabolism is one of those processes. The hormones that come handy in metabolism, like leptin, insulin and ghrelin, are regulated by circadian oscillation greatly. leptin hormone suppresses appetite and aids metabolism and is released mostly during the sleep time in human beings. So naturally, its release will depend on how well is the natural circadian rhythm kept.
Now if the person is having fatty food, especially fast food like burgers, ice cream and pizza late in the night for long periods of time, it will naturally interfere with many of the body processes and cause major changes in circadian rhythm. Such a person is quite likely to end up having problems with weight. This eventually will lead to metabolic diseases such as diabetes.
Eating late can also cause acid reflux in one’s body. The stomach requires a few hours to get empty after a meal. But going to bed soon after a meal can result in acid from stomach to leak upwards into the esophagus which is not a desirable situation.
late night eating is also associated with heart diseases. late night eating habits increase triglycerides, apart from cholesterol and fat in the blood, which leads to increase in heart diseases. Triglyceride is a type of fat that one can get mostly from the food that one eats. The body also produces it when it converts extra calories to fat for storage. Some of the triglycerides are necessary for particular cell functions, but excess is unhealthy and must be avoided.
It is of utmost importance that a proper eating schedule is maintained, especially nowadays when all nutritional requirements are not met because of higher intake of fast food and fatty food. It is imperative to understand that a good and healthy lifestyle is a must for maintaining good health. The kind of health a person will have is direct proportional to how good the lifestyle of the person is. Even a balanced diet full of nutrients in the right quantity will fail to give the desired energy and overall health.
The doctor is a consultant, clinical Nutritionist, Columbia Asia Hospital, Ghaziabad