Why you should avoid eating after 7pm (2024)

FAQs

Why you should avoid eating after 7pm? ›

If you stop eating at night, you may improve your heart health. Research suggests that late-night eating increases heart disease risk by 55%. While this study was done with only male participants, there is scientific evidence showing that late-night eating negatively affects the heart of both men and women.

“Eating close to bedtime or before lying down significantly increases GERD or acid reflux, so for this reason I don't recommend it,” gastroenterologist Caroline Soyka, DO, told Health. If acid reflux tends to disrupt your sleep, it's a good idea to stick to an eating cutoff hour on the earlier side.

A good rule of thumb, Kopp suggests, is not to go more than three to four hours without eating. For example, if you eat lunch around noon, it would be a good idea to have a snack around 3 p.m. and dinner between 6 and 7 p.m.

A study at the Perelman School of Medicine found that frequent eating at night (which they defined as between 7 pm and 11 pm) causes you to burn fat more slowly. The group of people who ate after 7 pm gained weight, compared to a group who only ate between 8 am and 7 pm.

Many people find that a moderate fast, finishing all food by 7pm and then waiting until 7 or 8am the next day before eating breakfast can offer a more sustainable approach, while still reaping some of the perceived benefits.

You won't gain weight by merely eating later if you eat within your daily calorie needs. Still, studies show that nighttime eaters typically make poorer food choices and eat more calories, which can lead to weight gain. If you're hungry after dinner, chose nutrient-dense foods and low-calorie beverages.

There's no set time you should stop eating to lose belly fat, but, as a guideline, you should avoid eating two to three hours before bed to stop it from disrupting your sleep and body clocks, which can cause belly fat gain. Studies show early dinners can help people lose weight.

Because of the way our internal clocks operate, our bodies are primed to digest and metabolize food early in the day. As the day progresses, our metabolisms become less efficient. Studies show that a meal consumed at 9 a.m. can have vastly different metabolic effects than the same meal consumed at 9 p.m.

So when exactly should you stop eating at night? Scientists can't agree on a single set time, but the consensus seems to be within three hours before bedtime. So if you go to bed at 11 p.m., don't eat after 8 p.m. Banishing late night snacks after that time could help alleviate the symptoms of acid reflux disease, too.

Eating before bed may stabilize your blood sugar levels and satisfy cravings, helping you fall asleep faster. Risks of eating before bed may outweigh benefits and cause reflux, heartburn, weight gain, and worse sleep. Experts recommended eating up to two hours before bedtime to avoid negative effects.

How much weight do you lose if you don't eat for 3 days? ›

To prevent excessive muscle loss, the body begins to rely on fat stores to create ketones for energy, a process known as ketosis. During the first 5 days without food, a person may lose 1–2 kilograms (2.2–4.4 pounds) of body weight each day. Most of this weight loss is related to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.

you are likely to find it harder to lose weight at least initially. This is because for you, as your body uses up its various glucose stores during a fast, insulin levels remain high instead of falling like they should. When this happens, the body cannot see or access internal fat stores.

Depending on your lifestyle and when you can manage to stop eating, the best hours for intermittent fasting include the 16/8 or 14/10 fasting periods. Intermittent fasting is hailed by many as the new mantra of weight loss, disease prevention, and reversal of aging.

Best Intermittent Fasting Method For Visceral Belly Fat

14/10 Method: Fast for 14 hours and have a 10-hour eating window daily. That means you restrict your food intake to a specific 10-hour period while abstaining from caloric consumption for the remaining 14 hours.

Scientists can't agree on a single set time, but the consensus seems to be within three hours before bedtime. So if you go to bed at 11 p.m., don't eat after 8 p.m. Banishing late night snacks after that time could help alleviate the symptoms of acid reflux disease, too.

A recent study published in the research journal Cell Metabolism showed that eating later in the day resulted in increased hunger and a decrease in leptin — a hormone that makes you feel full — and may contribute to an increased risk for obesity.

The best method is fasting for 16 hours and eating for 8 hours (16:8). So if you typically eat dinner around 6pm, you would stop eating right after dinner (probably 6:30pm or 7pm). After that you would only drink water. Then you would continue to fast until 16 hours past, which would be around 11am the next day.