Does eating after 8pm make you gain weight? (2024)

Have you ever heard the saying 'Breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, dinner like a pauper'? The logic behind this old proverb is intuitive enough: eat your larger meals (and the majority of your calories) earlier on in the day, and you will have more time to burn them off before bedtime. But is there any truth behind this theory and does eating in the evening really predispose you to weight gain?

Nutritionist Naomi Mead speaks to Dietician and Exercise Physiologist Michael Lawler about the link between diet, weight loss and when we eat:

Does eating late make you gain weight?

In a paper published in the British Journal of Nutrition, researchers at King's College London examined the eating habits of 1,620 children using data from the UK's National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Programme collected between 2008 and 2012.

They tested for an association between evening meal timing (consuming the evening meal before or after 8pm) and risk of overweight and/or obesity, adjusting for relevant confounding variables. They found no significant link between eating after 8pm and excess weight gain in children.

Are all calories equal?

The above findings support other similar studies in adults, which, contrary to popular opinion, have consistently shown that there is no direct link between what time you eat and weight gain.

From a metabolic viewpoint, a calorie eaten at breakfast is equal to a calorie consumed after the watershed. Weight gain will occur if you consume more calories than you burn, irrespective of the time at which you consume them.

'The way in which calories are utilised by the body certainly does not appear to be strongly determined by the time of day that you eat them,' explains Lawler.

'Overall calorie consumption, overall movement patterns and quality of calories consumed such as more from fruits, vegetables, wholegrains and dairy, and less from highly refined, sugar and fat added foods, are all areas that have a much more significant impact to your health.'

What causes weight gain?

There are still reasons to be mindful about our evening eating habits, and that's largely because of the types of foods often consumed at night.

After-dinner snacks tend to consist of high-calorie foods such as chocolate, ice cream and crisps which are not necessarily eaten through hunger, but for other reasons such as boredom, stress, fatigue or out of habit (for example while watching television). It is this type of regular mindless eating that can lead to overeating, and result in us taking in more calories than we need.

Does eating late impact digestion and sleep?

Besides the extra calories, eating too close to bedtime can have other health implications such as digestive issues. When sleeping, our digestion naturally slows down as our metabolism enters a resting state.

Lying down in bed immediately after eating can lead to symptoms such as indigestion, acid reflux and heartburn. This is commonly triggered by high-fat and spicy foods, which should be avoided in the evening if nighttime digestive discomfort is experienced.

Sleep can also be negatively impacted by late-night consumption of sugary snacks, which will send blood sugar levels soaring. 'A surge in blood sugar leads to an increased stress response in the body and raises cortisol levels,' agrees Lawler. 'This reduces the quality of sleep, just liking drinking alcohol does, by reducing our deep sleep.'

How to eat healthy in the evenings

When it comes to weight gain, the body doesn't process calories any differently in the evening than any time of day. And if your job or lifestyle means that dinner isn't until after 8.30pm every night, you shouldn't beat yourself up about it. 'Don't feel guilty if you enjoy eating late, just make sure the meal is well balanced and nourishing,' says Lawler.

To get the best out of your evening meal, Lawler recommends the following healthy eating tips:

✔️ Make your evening meal satiating by including a good source of protein, and plenty of fibre-rich vegetables. Managing hunger will help to curb mindless snacking.

✔️ If you know that you're a habitual snacker, have some healthier options to hand such as berries and natural yoghurt, oatcakes and nut butter, or a handful of nuts.

✔️ Avoid sugar, caffeine and excess alcohol close to bedtime, which can disrupt hormones, and have a negative impact on sleep.

✔️ If you regularly suffer from digestive discomfort at night, keep a food and symptom diary to help identity what foods may be triggering these symptoms, and avoid eating these in the evening.

Last updated: 03-12-19