Öine "ahmimishimu": miks sa tahad hiljem süüa?

Night rises for the sake of looking in the refrigerator, or too late meals, because it is simply impossible to fall asleep on an empty stomach. Why this happens and how to solve the problem – we are going to understand together with nutritionist and weight correction specialist, expert of the International Festival of Health and Sports SN PRO EXPO FORUM Tatiana Gorlanova.

Let’s start with the fact that all problems begin with the violation of the daily regimen due to the shift of circadian rhythms of a particular person. If they are not adjusted, everything turns into functional disorders and nervous system disorder.

What is the relationship between diet and nutrition?

At night a person should sleep. It is necessary to fall asleep at 22.00. If the daily bedtime routine is disrupted year after year, the circadian rhythm schedule will gradually become disrupted.

Tsirkadiaanrütmid represent the body’s biological clock. Each hormone is adjusted to these rhythms, all processes must be synchronized. In simple words, melatonin is the hormone that regulates our circadian rhythms. It triggers the growth hormone, and already that hormone triggers the next hormone in the chain and promotes fat burning in sleep.

There is a specific time for each action of the internal organs. For the release of hormones there are also certain hours. Ghrelin (hunger hormone) and leptin (satiety hormone) have a special influence on appetite.

According to research, there is a direct link between the quality and quantity of sleep and the risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

Ghrelin is a hormone that signals to the brain that you are hungry. When your sleep is disturbed, ghrelin is produced very actively. Its job is to bring back your energy levels, which are insufficient due to constant sleep deprivation.

Leptin is the satiety hormone, and it is produced by our fat cells. When you don’t get enough sleep or don’t go to bed on time, leptin’s communication with the brain is also disrupted. The brain stops receiving signals from leptin and what’s called leptin resistance develops.

And the more a person is knocked out of their sleep schedule, the more this connection is disrupted, the more they get fat and the more they want to eat. A fat person is a constantly hungry and sleep deprived person.

Why is it difficult to fall asleep hungry?

Because of the disrupted schedule of cortisol production, which should wake us up smoothly in the morning, we cannot wake up and fall asleep normally in the evening. Cortisol levels should be high in the morning and rise slowly and low in the evening, not the other way around.

When evening cortisol is high, the body cannot realize that it is time to sleep. It is active and requires energy and fueling with food. Many people exercise in the evening after 7 pm, which causes a disruption in cortisol production and circadian rhythms. This also leads to increased appetite.

Cortisol is an antagonist of insulin. And in order to somehow regulate the biological clock, the body begins to ask for additional food intake. This produces insulin, which not only suppresses the production of cortisol, but also depresses the production of growth hormone. As a result, the disruption of circadian rhythms leads to a greater desire to eat in the evening.

What else can influence hunger at night?

Another cause of late night eating is chronic stress. This problem is also tied to cortisol and its malfunctions. Therefore, it is very important to be able to build your rhythm of life so that it includes rest and relaxation of the nervous system.

Many people eat stress, but after reducing stress reactions, the desire to eat sweet and tasty dishes quickly goes away, weight normalizes, reduces fatigue and cellulite.

In addition, the reason may lie in emotional overeating. This layer of evening “overeating” lies in the field of psycho-emotional state of a person. There are special tests that can confirm such problems in a particular person. Here it is important to work with a specialist in RPP and eliminate the root cause of nighttime overeating.

Nighttime “binge eating” can be influenced by a deficit of calories and foods with high nutrient density during the day. Quality foods with sufficient vitamins and minerals are important. After all, a cake may be calorie-dense, but after it you will spend resources rather than replenish them.

At the end of the day, there is a superimposition of food deficiencies. The body turns off the neocortex (that’s the part of the brain we can use to keep our instincts in check) and turns on the reptilian brain, which is responsible for those very instincts. When starving and nutrient deficient, our body will seek out the most caloric and tasty food. This is usually all sweets, baked goods and convenience foods. The person gets full of them and blames himself. But in fact, this mechanism is designed to survive and save life.

Another important reason for night eating is social. This is the habit of eating at night, especially if it was a family habit or if there were regular family late dinners.

In this case, I advise you to choose lighter and more digestible food and drink enough water at the table. This will allow you not to feel like an outcast, and also not to overload the GI tract.

How to fall asleep when you want to eat?

It is important to build a schedule of eating throughout the day in even portions. It is necessary to eat until satiety and chew food thoroughly. This will allow you to eat less food, and it will be better digested.

Conclusions. Overeating happens

• due to problems with circadian rhythms, due to sleep deficits and shifts in hormone production;
• due to a lack of food throughout the day;
• due to psycho-emotional hunger;
• for social reasons.

Very often there is a combination of several or all causes, and it is necessary to untangle the “tangle” with several specialists. A nutriciologist can help to establish circadian rhythms, point out the importance of these processes, and influence the proper production of hormones through normalization of sleep and nutrition.