SARAH DI LORENZO: Do carbs before bed make you gain weight or is the night carb fear just another diet myth

This is a topic that has been debated for years. There are many people who swear by avoiding carbohydrates at night to maintain weight and good health.

I personally have not eaten carbohydrates at night for most of my adult life, there are occasions here or there that I may have but as a general rule I don’t.

One of my main reasons is that I like to eat in line with circadian rhythms and how they impact our hormones, especially insulin.

Carbohydrates are one of our macronutrients and are essential to our diet. When we eat carbohydrates they are broken down in the body into glucose to be used as energy or stored.

The thing is the body’s sensitivity to insulin is high during the day and decreases in the evening. Insulin is the hormone that takes glucose from our blood to cells to use for energy.

The reality is our body is much less efficient at processing carbs at night than in the morning. Eating carbs late in the day and at night can lead to blood sugar spikes and much slower return to baseline. Over time this can drive metabolic conditions like Type 2 Diabetes.

Another consideration is carbohydrates play a big role at night especially when feeding a large family and growing children so are central to most family dinners. In this situation carbohydrates should be a part of a healthy balanced dinner.

But much of this also depends on what type of carbohydrate — processed or refined and how late is the family dinner, ideally you would want the family dinner in the early evening around 6pm to 7pm.

Sleep quality is something else to be considered. When refined carbs such as white bread, pastries, cakes, biscuits, white pasta and white rice are consumed late evening and at night blood sugar elevates and then drops during the night so will disrupt sleep quality.

On the other hand, healthy complex carbohydrates like whole grains or fruit a few hours before bed can shorten the time it takes to fall asleep.

This is because of how complex carbohydrates affect the production of tryptophan and serotonin which are amazing for sleep.

Healthy complex carbohydrates at night have other benefits as well. They can lower stress levels, help relax after a big day and support transition to a good quality sleep.

Plus complex carbohydrates can support muscle repair and recovery especially for those who exercise at night. Another benefit is complex carbohydrates can help regulate appetite and reduce your cravings for something sweet.

I am going to address the “carbs at night make you fat” belief. This is the case when refined carbohydrates are consumed at night regularly and it is a time where people are way less active.

People with sedentary lifestyles or metabolic conditions like insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and obesity will drive their conditions with eating at night compared to eating in the morning.

It really does come down to the quality of the choice of carbohydrate - refined or complex as well as health status and level of activity.

Complex carbs are rich in nutrients, fibre, support sleep and can reduce risk of metabolic problems plus help you maintain a healthy weight.

In contrast refined carbohydrates at night can increase the risk of weight gain, poor sleep and drive metabolic diseases.

The takeaway is that carbohydrates at night are not bad for you if you are eating the healthy ones but you are better off to eat larger portions of carbohydrates during the day than at night.

Portions at night should be portion controlled. For the majority of people good quality carbs with dinner at night and around 3 hours before bed will not be harmful and could as mentioned support sleep and reduce any stress.

For those with obesity and diabetes avoiding refined carbohydrates at night would help improve blood sugar control.

If eating carbohydrates at night is for you the key is the healthy complex carbohydrates that are good quality and enjoy in moderation.