Human nutrition largely depends on proper nutrition. The habit of eating properly should be developed from childhood, but not everyone succeeds. Many people suffer from various eating disorders that can lead to overweight and obesity. One such bad habit is eating bad food at bedtime.

Proper nutrition throughout the day

Proper nutrition is based on several principles, observing which, a person can maintain the right level of weight and consume the necessary calorie intake, depending on age and lifestyle. For example, a woman 26-50 years old, leading a sedentary lifestyle, you need to consume 1800 calories per day. A man of the same age and with the same level of physical activity needs 2400 calories per day.

Proper nutrition should include a sufficient amount of protein, fat and carbohydrates. A complete rejection of one of the components when following a diet can lead to health problems. Therefore, choosing a diet should only be recommended by a specialist in accordance with the age and health of the patient.   

If you follow the proper nutrition scheme, it is advisable to eat 5 times a day in small portions. The main meal should be breakfast. It is he who provides the person with energy for a long time. Breakfast should contain complex carbohydrates, such as cereals, granola, pasta, fruits or berries, tea or coffee.

Lunch should consist of soup and a main course, but not necessarily. Soup is one of the healthy and nutritious dishes. Some soups have a fairly low calorie content, for example, broths with vegetables and chicken. The second course may include stewed vegetables, lean meats or fish. Dinner should also include vegetables. Carbohydrate food – pastries and pastries in the evening are undesirable, especially before bedtime. 

A proper diet for those who want to lose weight or maintain it at the right level should completely eliminate fatty, sweet and salty foods.

Why do people eat before bed?

Compulsive overeating, aptly called by many “night dozhor”, contributes to the appearance of extra pounds. Some people would love to lose weight, but lack of willpower or stress prevents them. It is generally accepted that eating at night is harmful, because at night the metabolism slows down, and extra pounds are postponed.

Often with compulsive overeating, people do not use the most useful food products – rolls, pies, cakes, sweets. They practically do not bring benefits to the body. They are the source of unspent calories. Therefore, all dreams of losing weight fail.

People eat before bed for several reasons. The first is a lack of food throughout the day. A person skips breakfast because in the morning there is not enough time for him or there is no desire to eat. He may also skip lunch or dinner due to the high workload. The result – all the same “night dozhor.”

Another reason is “seizing” stress. It is nervous tension that causes compulsive overeating. Not all, but many people are persistently drawn to the refrigerator late in the evening or at night in stressful situations.

The most harmful foods that contribute to weight gain are sweets, pastries, pickles, smoked meats, sausages and canned goods. But there are others that you can eat at night, without fear for weight.

What foods are not harmful to eat at night?

There are healthy foods that you can eat at night and not be afraid to get better. It may seem strange, but among such products, for example, there is dark chocolate. It is much more useful than milk, and, especially chocolate bars. It contains vitamins such as B1, B2 and E.

What else can you eat at night without harm to weight:

• pistachios. They contain many useful substances, for example, folic acid and vitamin B6. For late evening snacks, it is important that the pistachios are not salty;
• soups. Not too rich soup has a calming effect and is also one of the most useful dishes for late evening or night;
• blueberries and desserts based on it. This berry has a wide range of useful properties, the main of which is a positive effect on vision. In winter, you can store blueberries in a frozen form, because this is how it stores all the beneficial substances;
• tea with lemon and ginger. It is no coincidence that ginger is part of many diets. This is one of the most important products that help fight weight or maintain it at the right level. Tea perfectly quenches thirst, which sometimes disguises itself as hunger;
• kefir. Another common dietary product, which is even part of the mono-diet, popular among stars of show business. As a complement to kefir, you can also eat low-calorie fruits, such as apples or oranges.

Nutrition experts have not come to a consensus about what is clearly harmful at night. But there are less and less of those who insist that you can not eat after 18.00. A softer point of view of nutritionists – you can eat no later than 1.5-2 hours before bedtime. It is desirable that the products have a low calorie content and contain as little carbohydrates and harmful fats as possible.

In the night and evening snacks there is nothing dangerous. If a person eats foods that will not have harmful effects on weight, then food for night snacks will calm the nerves and will not affect harmony in any way. It is hardly worth including in the evening diet foods that excite the nervous system, such as coffee. You do not need to eat those that contain simple carbohydrates, including sugar.

If compulsive overeating caused by stress becomes a problem, then, first of all, it is necessary to eliminate its root cause, that is, the source of stress itself or get rid of an eating disorder with the help of a specialist. It is possible that the cause of overeating at night is much deeper than the feeling of hunger.