If you know what is good for you, you may want to think twice about grabbing that midnight snack, especially if you want to sleep soundly. Apparently, we all know that the food that we digest at times of needing to satisfy that hunger when we are awake in the late evenings or early mornings may not necessarily be good for us in terms of being able to burn and digest them.

There is something more towards midnight snacks and it has been tied up with stress and disrupted sleep.

Each time they wake, they head for the kitchen to eat food high in carbohydrates, such as chocolate, cake, bread and biscuits. Night eaters may consume half their daily calorie intake after their evening meal and this frequently leads to weight gain. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found typical nocturnal eaters consumed 500 calories more than those whose sleep was undisturbed.

It appears that night eating is a result of a brain chemical imbalance — eating boosts the feel-good chemical serotonin in night eaters’ bodies, thus stimulating sleep. Adrienne Baillie-Carrigan, 44, from Fleet, Hampshire, suffers from the disorder.

(Source) The Telegraph

Tags: biscuits, brain chemical imbalance, calories, chocolate cake, daily calorie intake, hunger, midnight snacks, serotonin, sleep, stress

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 30th, 2008 at 12:17 am and is filed under Health Issues, How to sleep better, SLEEP News, Sleep Disorders.
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