Scientists have explained what makes people wake up at night to eat

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It can be a sign of an eating disorder.

If you've caught yourself bingeing at night once, it's most likely a fluke. But if visits to the refrigerator have become regular, perhaps this is a symptom.

Why the habit of eating at night should make you wary

In general, our body knows very well that sleep and eating are fundamentally different processes. Therefore, when a person goes to sleep, the level of leptin, a hormone that suppresses appetite, increases in his blood.

After waking up, he returns to normal. However, the level of ghrelin increases – this hormone makes you think about whether it is time to have a snack. This is how a healthy human body regulates appetite under normal conditions.

Sometimes failures can happen. Maybe you exercised too much during the day, and the body needs energy. Or they've been overworked and the brain needs extra glucose to recover. Or maybe you just drank a lot of liquid before going to bed, and a full bladder keeps you awake.

In general, due to some extraordinary situation, you do not have enough calories, you cannot really fall asleep, the hormonal regulation of appetite fails – and you find yourself at the refrigerator at midnight.

However, if attacks of night hunger happen to you at least a couple of times a week, the reason may be more serious.

Scientists claim that the night eating regime is quite common. It is most often found in people who are obese, as well as in those who take psychoactive substances or suffer from mental disorders.

In approximately 1.5% of the population, night gluttony takes such a pronounced form that it is classified as a disorder – nocturnal overeating syndrome.

Why people regularly wake up at night to eat, scientists do not know for sure. However, there are versions.

What draws you to the refrigerator at night

Here are some possible options.

1. You don't overeat during the day

Neurobiologist Nicole Avena, whose professional interests include nutrition, diets, and food addictions, told Vice in a comment that night eating occurs when people begin to starve — for example, go on too strict a diet.

How as a rule, it passes when the body adapts to food restrictions.

2. This is a side effect of an eating disorder

Scientists have found that among those who eat at night, there are many people with diagnosed eating disorders. Thus, one study showed that 51% of patients with bulimia and about 35% with anorexia tend to eat after midnight.

In a half-asleep state, people have less self-control. Therefore, a person who persistently avoids food during the day may well look into the refrigerator at night.

3. You were worried or live in constant stress

Long-term stress is a frequent cause of overeating. Including night ones.

The same professor Allison found that about three-quarters of people who regularly eat at night have experienced some kind of stressful event. It disrupted their sleep patterns and made late-night snacking attractive.

Other evidence suggests that people with depression or anxiety disorders are more prone to late-night binge eating.

Essentially, any what type of mood disorder can cause a person to wake up and eat at night.

4. It's just heredity

If someone close to you also occasionally wakes up at night to raid the refrigerator, you may have some common gene that provokes this behavior. However, scientists have not yet calculated it.

Why is it harmful to eat at night

If you go to the refrigerator only occasionally, there is nothing wrong with it. But regular night snacks can be harmful to your health.

• Having eaten at night, you are likely to have a bad breakfast. So, you will feel a lack of energy in the first half of the day.
• Nocturnal digestion disturbs sleep. You will toss and turn in bed, wake up more often to go to the toilet. As a result, you will not get enough sleep and throughout the day you will feel less able to work than usual.
• Frequent night snacks eventually increase the levels of “bad” cholesterol and glucose in the blood. This means that the risk of cardiovascular problems, diabetes and obesity increases.

How to stop eating at night

Psychology professor Kelly Ellison suggests one of these options.

1. Try to replace eating with another activity. For example, meditate, take deep breaths, read, or listen to calming music.
2. Find a way to make food more difficult to access. Lock the kitchen or refrigerator at night, if it has such a function. Or make sure you don't have foods that can be eaten right away without cooking: sausage, chips, pizza, chocolate. In order to cook something, you will have to fully wake up, which means that self-control will increase and you will be able to abandon the idea of ​​a night snack.

If simple methods do not help, it makes sense to consult a therapist or psychotherapist, who specializes in eating disorders. Perhaps, in your case, we are talking about some kind of malfunction in the body, and it is important to diagnose it as early as possible.

What you definitely do not need to do is to take over-the-counter supplements to improve sleep at night, such as melatonin. Such drugs really help to fall asleep. But at night you will wake up sleepy and completely relaxed. So, you will be even worse at controlling yourself.