Does Eating Late at Night Cause Weight Gain?

Question

There's actually very little evidence that connects eating late in the day with weight gain, says Alissa Rumsey, MS, RD, and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "It's the extra calories you eat, not the time you eat them, that causes weight gain," Rumsey explains in regards to debunking the idea that eating late at night slows your metabolism. (From EatThis.com)

Comments

Your source was really clear and did a great job addressing the claim. I also appreciated how you pointed out the conflicting variables it added depth and made your response feel more thoughtful and well-rounded. That said, it would have been helpful if you had explained some of those variables a bit more. As a reader, it would make it easier to fully understand what you were referring to and follow your reasoning better. Great effort overall!

Answer 1

The claim that eating late at night correlates to weight gain is partially false. According to Harvard Medical, "Eating later in the day increased participants' hunger, decreased the number of calories they burned, and promoted fat storage." They later state that over time, eating later meals could lead to weight gain. This suggests that eating late at night doesn't directly lead to weight gain, it can influence metabolism. hunger, and calorie consumption. Which can lead to weight gain. 

Additionally, the University of Arkansas claims "it is not the time of day that makes the difference — it’s what you are consuming." This means that eating late at night itself isn’t necessarily the issue, but rather the types of food commonly consumed during late-night eating. Typically, the food we eat late at night consists of snack items instead of dinner meals. Moreover, snacking is usually done while watching TV, which usually leads to mindless eating, which in turn will lead to weight gain.

Sources:

https://uamshealth.com/medical-myths/does-eating-late-at-night-make-you-fat/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/harvard-study-curb-late-night-eating-to-stave-off-weight-gain

Answer 2

The idea that eating late at night directly causes weight gain isn't entirely accurate. The primary factor in weight gain is consuming more calories than your body needs, regardless of the time of day. However, some studies suggest that late-night eating might influence your body's metabolism and hunger cues. 

For instance, research from Harvard Medical School found that eating later in the day can increase hunger levels, decrease calorie burning, and promote fat storage, which over time could contribute to weight gain.  Additionally, a study highlighted by Healthline indicates that late-night eaters often consume more calories overall, not necessarily because of the timing, but due to the types of foods chosen and portion sizes. 

In summary, while eating late doesn't automatically lead to weight gain, it can contribute if it results in excessive calorie intake or disrupts your body's natural rhythms.

Sources:

• Harvard Medical School: Late-Night Eating Impact

• Healthline: Does Eating Late at Night Cause Weight Gain?

Answer 3

This claim is partly true because eating late at night one time will not cause you to gain weight. It depends on how your body functions. For example, if you started eating at night every day and it becomes a habit, you could see some sort of weight gain. This could be increased calorie intake, a disrupted metabolism, or, in some cases, hormonal imbalances. "Eating later in the day increased participants' hunger, decreased the number of calories they burned, and promoted fat storage. Over time, those effects could lead to weight gain". If it becomes a habit, your body will store the fat, and this will lead to weight gain. If only done once or a few times, you will not see a weight change. So overall, this claim is somewhat true.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/harvard-study-curb-late-night-eating-to-stave-off-weight-gain

Answer 4

This EatThis.com post claims that eating late at night does not effect weight gain, but this is false. The posts cites this Alissa Rumsey quote: "It's the extra calories you eat, not the time you eat them, that causes weight gain," but I can't find any proof that she made this claim. The closest statement I found on her website comes from this article, where she says: "Even if it’s late at night, or it’s “only” been X hours since your last meal, or if you think you already ate enough today – you trust your body when it tells you it’s hungry."

https://alissarumsey.com/intuitive-eating-benefits/

There is an important distinction here between Rumsey's claim, that eating when you are hungry is more important than not eating at night, and the claim that eating at night has no impact on weight gain.   

This back up by a JCEM study, a trusted academic source which finds that "[Late Dinner] induces nocturnal glucose intolerance, and reduces fatty acid oxidation and mobilization, particularly in earlier sleepers. These effects might promote obesity if they recur chronically."

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7337187/

Eating at night can cause weight gain if done constantly, but as Rumsey claimed it is better to do it every once in a while than force yourself to be hungry. This is different than it having no effect at all.