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Eating at night is dangerous to your health
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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There are few people who have never made nighttime trips to the refrigerator. For some, this is due to a constant feeling of emptiness in the stomach. Some simply cannot wait until the morning to enjoy their favorite cake. If this happens in your life only occasionally, then it is not scary. It is much more serious if such "raids" are chronic.
Regularly eating at night increases the risk of developing diabetes and complex heart diseases such as myocardial infarction, according to a new study.
Night eating has long been studied by doctors. Recently, a new term has even appeared – “night appetite syndrome”.
Previously, scientists have already proven that nighttime attacks of eating sweets can be hereditary, and such heredity can extend back to very distant ancestors.
In ancient times, people were completely dependent on nature and external factors. Therefore, before going to bed, everyone preferred to have a good meal - after all, it was impossible to predict when the opportunity to eat "until bursting" would appear again. A hearty meal was a necessary condition for human survival.
Nowadays people lead a predominantly sedentary lifestyle, and this is accompanied by an abundance of food and a tendency to overeat. Therefore, every extra night meal can play a cruel joke, the result of which will be metabolic and cardiovascular disorders.
The human body has its own internal clock, adapted to the natural day and night cycle. The same body is set for a certain time of eating, night rest and active pastime.
If the brain ignores the internal clock, then a person’s health and well-being are at risk.
Scientists have scientifically proven that eating food with a disruption of the adequate circadian rhythm leads to the appearance of extra pounds.
What did the experts manage to prove in the new study?
Dr. Ruud Buijs and his colleagues are sure that eating at night increases the risk of developing diabetes and myocardial infarction. According to Dr. Buijs, the "reversal" of the biological rhythm can increase the level of lipids and triglycerides in the bloodstream, as well as change glucose metabolism.
The doctor and a group of scientists conducted experiments on rodents, tracking the impact of biological rhythm on the level of triglycerides in the bloodstream.
It was found that when feeding at night, this level significantly exceeded normal values. In those rodents that were fed adequately - during the daytime - the triglyceride level was within normal limits. Then the scientists removed the part of the rodents' brain responsible for regulating the circadian rhythm. After removal, the triglyceride content no longer depended on the time of day: the biological clock "stopped".
Thus, experts have concluded that eating at night grossly disrupts the circadian rhythm. This is extremely negatively perceived by the body and leads to severe metabolic disorders, which is fraught with the development of diabetes, heart attack, stroke, etc.
Details can be found in the pages of Experimental Physiology.
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