People who eat a late dinner just before bed are more likely to gain weight

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People who eat a late dinner before going to bed are more likely to gain weight ‘because their body burns 10 per cent less fat overnight’

  • Scientists studied 20 people overnight to see how their body digested food  
  • Participants ate dinner at either 6pm or 10pm and went to bed at 11pm 
  • Those with the later meal time had higher peak glucose levels overnight 
  • Amount of fat burned overnight was also found to decrease by about 10 per cent

By Joe Pinkstone For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Eating dinner late at night can lead to high blood sugar levels and put people at increased risk of being overweight, a study has found. 

Scientists found that eating shortly before going to bed makes the body less able to process all the nutrients and glucose. 

As a result, people burn ten per cent less fat overnight if they eat at 10pm, compared to having their evening meal at 6pm.  

Scientists found that eating shortly before going to bed makes the body less able to process all the nutrients and glucose. As a result, people burn ten per cent less fat overnight if they eat at 10pm, compared to having their evening meal at 6pm (stock)

Researchers studied 20 healthy volunteers, ten men and ten women, to see how dinner time affected overnight digestion.  

The volunteers all went to bed at 11pm and their body’s metabolism was assessed throughout the night as they slept in a special laboratory-bedroom. 

Activity trackers provided data on the individuals while blood sampling was done every hour throughout the night. 

Body fat scans were also performed and the participants were only fed food with specific labels that allowed scientists to track the rate of fat burning.

All the data was crunched and published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

The study found that blood sugar levels were higher, and the amount of ingested fat burned was lower, if a person ate dinner just one hour before bed (stock)

The study found that blood sugar levels were higher, and the amount of ingested fat burned was lower, if a person ate dinner just one hour before bed (stock)

Young children who drink two cups of 100% pure fruit juice a day have healthier diets as teens 

Pre-school and nursery age children should drink at least 1.5 cups of 100 per cent pure fruit juice a day, a study claims. 

American scientists discovered these youngsters develop healthier diets and eat more fruit as teens than their peers who drank less than half a cup of pure juice a day when they were younger. 

And, contrary to previous research, the study found drinking more fruit juice, which is naturally high in sugars, does not put children at greater risk of being overweight. 

Lead researcher, Dr Lynn Moore from Boston University, said: ‘We know that whole fruit intake as well as diet quality typically decline from early childhood through adolescence.

‘Children who consumed about 1.5 cups of 100 per cent fruit juice a day during the preschool years tended to maintain healthier diets into adolescence than children who drank less than half a cup per day during preschool.’

The study found that blood sugar levels were higher, and the amount of ingested fat burned was lower, if a person ate dinner just one hour before bed.

Study author Dr Chenjuan Gu, from Johns Hopkins University in the US, said: ‘On average, the peak glucose level after late dinner was about 18 per cent higher, and the amount of fat burned overnight decreased by about ten per cent compared to eating an earlier dinner. 

Previous studies have also found eating late at night has an adverse heath impact, and this study builds on those findings. 

More than 2.1 billion adults worldwide are estimated to be overweight or obese and body weight has been linked to increased risk of diabetes and high blood pressure.

The study is not the first to show the effects of late eating, but the research team said it is one of the most detailed.

The researchers also found that if this trend was seen in 20 people of healthy weight, it is likely to  be more significant in people who are overweight or obese as their metabolism is already compromised. 

Dr Jonathan Jun, another author of the study from Johns Hopkins, said: ‘This study sheds new light on how eating a late dinner worsens glucose tolerance and reduces the amount of fat burned.

‘The effect of late eating varies greatly between people and depends on their usual bedtime.

‘This shows that some people might be more vulnerable to late eating than others.

‘If the metabolic effects we observed with a single meal keep occurring chronically, then late eating could lead to consequences such as diabetes or obesity.’