Late night eating Late-night eating is always a bad idea. But if you're a diabetic, it's even worse. In fact, there's now evidence that late-night eating, especially in large quantities, can really raise your risk of diabetes-related complications.
In one recent study, researchers out of 714 patients at a diabetes clinic, 10 percent admitted to consuming more than a fourth of their daily calories at dinnertime. Those same patients were also twice (and in some cases three times) more likely to be obese, have poor blood sugar control, heart disease, kidney problems, and nerve damage.
To make matters worse, the foods people are most likely to snack on late at night are usually high in calories, sugar, and fat. Which just means double-trouble.
In the study, the researchers noted that diabetics with those sorts of eating habits were more likely to experience depression. They also noticed that a lot of those folks ate in response to extreme emotions like anger or sadness.
Fortunately, there are a lot of healthy, positive, tried-and-true solutions to this problem.
First of all, you need to know your triggers. What is it about nighttime that encourages you to binge at night? Do you live alone? Get out of the house. Does it happen when you sit in front of the television? Go read a book or, better yet, exercise. Does it happen when you get upset or stressed out? Well, that's another time when exercise comes in handy. Exercise boosts your levels of mood-lifting endorphins, and helps to calm down stress at the same time.
If you have a serious night-eating or night-binging habit, I'd recommend talking to your doctor about it right away. Not only could it do bad things to your blood sugar levels, but it can contribute to other complications. In many cases, cognitive behavioral therapy can work wonders, especially if your eating habit is being caused by depression or some other emotional issue.
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