How Can I Stop the Urge of Eating Late at Night?

NES otherwise known as the night eating syndrome affect a lot of people in various ways. Some persons usually eat through the day and still devour large amounts of food in the evening. Others may minimize their eating during the day or stay without food altogether so that they can save the calories up to balance their night time eating cravings.

What are the Comon signs of NES?
·         Not eating breakfast
·         Abstinence from food or barely eating during the day
·         Eating significant portion of the daily calories after the evening
·         Uneven sleep patterns
·         Constant interruption of sleep in order to eat.
·         Eating plenty junk food, with very high carbohydrates.

What are the causes of Night Eating Syndrome?
It is only of late that the night eating disorder was given the merit of an eating disorder. However, this does not reduce its effect upon the persons who suffer from this urge.

People who suffer from NES seem to have melatonin in insufficient amounts. , melatonin is a hormone which ensures that we sleep well. This is the reason why people who suffer from this syndrome sleep less.
In average eaters, there is an increase in the level of leptin at night. Leptin is the hormone that controls eating by sending messages to the brain to stop eating or by suppressing hunger. However, people who have night eating syndrome do not experience this rise in leptin. Therefore, alongside disturbed sleep patterns, their brains are not getting signals that they are full.

Lastly, NES sufferers seem to have abnormally high levels of cortisol. Cortisol is the ‘stress hormone’ which governs the reaction of the body to stress. Consequently, it would appear that NES sufferers have higher stress levels than what is supposed to be. Also, stress is frequently a cause of eating unnecessarily or eating junk food itself.
Above these hormonal issues, boredom and idleness without doubt play a major role also.

 How Can I Stop Eating at Night?
·         Eat your breakfast as at when due
·         Take several little meals with high protein during the day
·         Don’t loaf around all evening after you’ve taken dinner
·         Switch off the TV and take a stroll or do something else
·         Sometime after you take your meal do some exercise like swimming or jogging
·         Take up a leisure pursuit such as joining a sports club or an evening class
·         Make every effort to defy every urge to eat when it comes
·         Whenever you eat, take healthier foods instead of eating junk foods

As stated earlier, boredom contributes a lot to the night eating syndrome. The urge does not come when you are occupied at work. Instead of just watching TV which only occupies a small portion of your mind, try to engage your time with other things. Hobbies and activities that get your attention and possibly wear you out will enable you keep your mind away from food and the extra stress will enable you to have a good sleep.

It is important to mention that one of the causes of weight gain is late night eating, a very large part of the food consumed late into the night do not brake down properly as the body's metabolism is slow during sleep hours and times of less activities and thus your body do not make use of the neccessary nutrient as they are not well digested but are converted into fat. If you are considering weight loss, then you most do everything possible to suppress your mid night food cravings and eating habit.