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The Dangers of Eating Late at Night

nytimes.com

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Re: The Dangers of Eating Late at Night

#31

Post by privong »

sumedh wrote: post #17
mitul_45 wrote: post #12

Well there is a ritual in Jainism which says not to eat after sunset (remember: this was written/said generations before all science and research came into existence). Being Jain, I am just amazed by how precise our religion/literature is. Like many other ritual, this one is also backed by science now. FYI: It's called "Chauvihar" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting_in_Jainism )

> I am just amazed by how precise our religion/literature is. Or just a coincidence/accident.

Possibly coupled with an observational confirmation bias https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

Re: The Dangers of Eating Late at Night

#32

Post by rogerbinns »

zamio wrote: post #22

"In France, for example, a serving of ice cream is typically a single modest scoop, while in America, it’s often three gargantuan scoops." This was the first thing that struck me when I first moved here. Portions for all kinds of food from ice-cream, to coffee are huge. Why are huge portions such a common thing here?

It is the simplest way to increase revenues. If for example a food item is sold for $5, and you would like more revenue then increase the portion size (costing say 20c in ingredients) and charge $6. Labour and space costs are pretty much fixed so this is the resolution to getting more per customer.

There are also some other cultural differences. Eating out is far more common amongst similar peer groups (comparing US and UK). Additionally Americans seem less able/willing to cook, despite the amusing amount of "food porn" TV channels and shows. That also ties in with the doggie bag - the idea being that the meal served is for more than one meal, taking the difference home for eating at another time thereby avoiding having to cook later.

Re: The Dangers of Eating Late at Night

#33

Post by themartorana »

sneak wrote: post #23
kreek wrote: post #16

For me it wasn't when or how much but what. At it's worst I was taking prescription medicine ate what I thought was healthy food (whole grain bread, oat cereal) and still had heartburn every night. I am not celiac but eliminating beer, whole grain wheat, and oats got rid of my acid reflux. Wheat, especially the modern variety, is not well tolerated by humans http://news.discovery.com/human/why-you-should-probably-sto…

I found that chlorinated water or high-fructose corn syrup triggered mine. That took a long time to isolate.

This. I live in a major city and our water is majorly chlorinated. I read a bit about this online and thought, sure, what the heck, I'll try eliminating chlorinated water and see what happens.

Now I have an under-counter water filter and all our drinking water has a significant amount of the chlorine filtered out. It made a huge difference for me. YMMV, and of course doesn't mean much for well water.

Re: The Dangers of Eating Late at Night

#34

Post by learc83 »

zamio wrote: post #22

"In France, for example, a serving of ice cream is typically a single modest scoop, while in America, it’s often three gargantuan scoops." This was the first thing that struck me when I first moved here. Portions for all kinds of food from ice-cream, to coffee are huge. Why are huge portions such a common thing here?

I think it was because America was the first country that could eat afford to eat like that, so we did. Look at the differences in traditional Italian food and Italian American food.

Dealing with virtually unlimited quantities of food is a very recent problem, and Americans were the first to have this problem at scale.

Most of the rest of the world now has this problem too. If you look at overweight trends, most developed countries are about were America was 30 years ago [1].

There are other differences as well. For one, America was the first country with ubiquitous car ownership--contributing to lower population density and less walking, more time sitting, and drive through restaurants.

[1] http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/the-world-is-fa...

Re: The Dangers of Eating Late at Night

#35

Post by switch007 »

ripb wrote: post #7

So the conclusion that can be drawn from the article is that if you can't control your portions, eat early. If you can control your portions, as she says Europeans do, then it's fine to eat late. So then the issue really at hand isn't eating time, it's portion size.

> If you can control your portions, as she says Europeans do,

Spanish portions can be huge. A paella "starter" could feed 2 people for a main course. UK portions sizes are growing, too. My Slovenian friend says they have huge portions in Slovenia, where quantity is valued over quality.

It's very hard to generalise about Europe and its ~600 million inhabitants.

Re: The Dangers of Eating Late at Night

#36

Post by nodata »

rogerbinns wrote: post #32
zamio wrote: post #22

"In France, for example, a serving of ice cream is typically a single modest scoop, while in America, it’s often three gargantuan scoops." This was the first thing that struck me when I first moved here. Portions for all kinds of food from ice-cream, to coffee are huge. Why are huge portions such a common thing here?

It is the simplest way to increase revenues. If for example a food item is sold for $5, and you would like more revenue then increase the portion size (costing say 20c in ingredients) and charge $6. Labour and space costs are pretty much fixed so this is the resolution to getting more per customer. There are also some other cultural differences. Eating out is far more common amongst similar peer groups (comparing US…

But his question was "why in America?", why not anywhere else?

Re: The Dangers of Eating Late at Night

#37

Post by _random_ »

mitul_45 wrote: post #12

Well there is a ritual in Jainism which says not to eat after sunset (remember: this was written/said generations before all science and research came into existence). Being Jain, I am just amazed by how precise our religion/literature is. Like many other ritual, this one is also backed by science now. FYI: It's called "Chauvihar" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting_in_Jainism )

Does Jain work in e.g. Norway?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_sun

Re: The Dangers of Eating Late at Night

#38

Post by joelrunyon »

smtddr wrote: post #14

To add perhaps some more support to this, see how Sumo wrestlers of Japan gain weight: http://www.diet-blog.com/05/sumo_wrestlers_this_is_how_you_g... Particularly 3 and 4: Take a nap after eating. Eat late in the day. Probably #1 too about skipping breakfast.

> Probably #1 too about skipping breakfast.

Actually - skipping breakfast helps you keep your insulin low and promotes lean body mass.

Your body is in prime fat burning mode in the morning and holding off on breakfast (and spiking the blood sugar / insulin levels) can help you keep burning fat through mid-morning.

Re: The Dangers of Eating Late at Night

#39

Post by _random_ »

lukasm wrote: post #29
k-mcgrady wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you fit that around work? I could do the 2nd breakfast if it was something I could eat at my desk (fruit for example) but the 15:00 dinner would probably last too long to fit in on my lunch hour (and it's quite late for lunch too when most employees break at 12:00 or 13:00).

That was in school. Can't do really at work, unless you start at 7:00.

Well, I was sleeping midday in the kindergarten. I really wish I could still do this at work.

Re: The Dangers of Eating Late at Night

#40

Post by ilaksh »

The idea that serious health problems can be cured with lifestyle changes is compelling, but unfortunately often wrong. This is a big problem in medicine in my opinion, because doctors often come into a relationship with a patient with the assumption that the patient's own behaviors are the root of the medical condition. This is essentially blaming the victim, and often absolutely incorrect.

My personal anecdotes relating to this are as follows. I have had serious acid reflux for years. It is generally the "silent" type and one of the main symptoms I have is asthma, especially night-time or sleeping-time asthma, triggered by the reflux.

I have tried various diets, including abstaining from caffeine, anything that could possibly contain wheat or trigger a wheat sensitivity, Atkins, fasting. None of those changes make my acid reflux or other related symptoms go away. I have also done experiments with strictly reducing my intake of food and drinks after certain times of day. This was also ineffective.

What does seem to help, to some limited degree, is taking large doses of acid reducer pills, and staying as upright as possible while sleeping.

Also, when I had a TIF surgery to repair my minor hernia and supposedly eliminate the reflux, it was significantly reduced, but never went away completely. And unfortunately after a few months I must have done something to undo much of that surgery because it is probably almost back as much as it was before. And I know my sliding hiatal hernia is back.

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