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You ate dinner and felt completely full, yet half an hour later you find yourself searching in the kitchen cabinets for something to eat. Does this sound familiar?
Research suggests that about a third of people snack every night after dinner. Four out of five people between the ages of 18 and 24 cannot resist the idea of eating even after dinner.
Nutritionist Dr. Christine Beaulieu says this is alarming. She points to evidence showing that the more food you eat within two hours before bed, the more likely you are to gain weight and become obese.
So, why are evening food cravings so common? What can you do to control it?
Appetite peaks in the evening
Although we spend more time without food while sleeping, research suggests that our appetite naturally peaks in the evening, regardless of how much food we ate earlier in the day.
Professor James Bates, who researches how the body handles food and energy at the University of Bath, says one important factor is that our hunger hormone is higher later in the day.
The quality of food we eat is also important, as meals rich in protein and fiber help us feel full for a longer period.
Bates says that not eating a nutritious or filling dinner can lead to sudden feelings of hunger later, prompting people to snack even though they have eaten dinner.
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For others, the fear of waking up hungry during the night is a motivating factor for a bedtime snack, and habit also plays a role.
“If snacking often occurs in the same place, surrounding cues can start to trigger food cravings,” says Professor Susan Higgs, an appetite expert at the University of Birmingham.
"For example, if someone usually snacks while watching TV, simply turning the TV on may make them feel like eating," she adds.
Why are sweets so tempting?
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It's not just that we feel hungry in the evening, but research suggests that our appetite for high-calorie foods also increases, driven by the brain's reward system rather than a real need for energy.
“Our desire to eat high-fat foods increases in the evening compared to low-fat foods,” says Beaulieu, of the University of Leeds and the University of Moncton in Canada.
She adds: "The desire to eat for pleasure may be stronger than the satiety signals sent by the body, which prompts some people to eat snacks or sweets even though they are not hungry."
Even after a heavy dinner, foods high in sugar, fat or salt can continue to activate the brain's reward pathways, which helps explain why many people resort to eating more.
So, when you find yourself standing in front of a box of cookies at 9 p.m., it may not be because your will is weak, but rather because your biology is against you.
Does snacking make it harder to sleep?
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Eating a large meal late certainly affects the digestion process and the body's natural readiness for sleep.
What about eating snacks? Here the research results become less clear.
There is some evidence to suggest that foods high in refined carbohydrates and added sugars, such as white bread, white rice, crackers and cakes, may be linked to poor sleep.
Researchers believe this is because these foods cause greater fluctuations in blood sugar levels and may alter some of the hormonal signals involved in regulating sleep and appetite.
However, it is difficult to determine the causal relationship, as people who suffer from poor sleep may be more likely to eat snacks that contain sugar.
“It is known that sleep deprivation not only increases appetite, but also increases the desire to eat energy-dense foods,” says Professor Jonathan Johnston, a sleep and circadian expert at the University of Surrey.
This means it's very difficult to make firm conclusions about whether late evening snacking disrupts sleep, Bates says.
He adds: "The evidence is not clear at all, and may reflect that some people respond differently than others to different types of food before bed."
How to snack in a healthy way
First, determine what triggers your snacking.
“Eating while busy, for example while watching TV, can lead to people consuming more food because they are not paying as much attention to how much food they are eating,” says Higgs.
We used artificial intelligence to help translate this article, which was originally written in English. This translation was reviewed by a BBC journalist before publication. More about how we use AI.
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