phoenixphyre
Mrs. Pheezy; mom of Loki
How to Avoid Late Night Munchies
by John Platero
Are you the victim of the late night munchies? Here's five helpful hints on how to avoid this dilemma.
1.) Plan ahead When I ask people to record a three-day dietary history, not only do they have to write down the amounts and types of foods, but they must also record the times of day they ate their meals. This is where most people tend to screw up. Many eat in the morning and then lunch 4 to 5 hours later, but then won't eat supper until 7:00 or 8:00 o'clock. By then, they're so starved they stuff themselves. The pancreas then reacts by releasing a large amount of insulin to help absorb all the glucose from the food. We call this an "insulin spike." This is normal in fact, this is how the body reacts to food. But, now here's where the problems start.
If you go to sleep immediately after you eat, chances are most of the food will be stored as fat. If you stay up to watch your favorite late night TV show, you'll most likely feel hungry again. You see, after that big spike comes the big valley. Because of all the insulin released to absorb that heavy meal, your body's blood glucose levels have dropped again. Remember, insulin job is help the cell absorb the extra glucose in the blood. Glucose is also the primary fuel source for the brain. Therefore, when your brain senses a drop in insulin, you're hungry again. Oops, late night munchies, you pig out, go to bed and store more fat. So, plan ahead. Eat small meals at regular intervals, maybe every 3-4 hours is best. I tend to think of eating in terms of grazing. If I'm going to be more active that day, then I’ll just graze larger portions. If you keep your meals at regular intervals you'll never be very hungry and chances are you won't be eating late at night.
2. ) Eat small meals R e m e m b e r, digesting food has a thermogenic effect. In other words it takes energy to digest food that's why it's recommended to walk after a meal. In fact, they say you can burn off 20-25% of the calories you just ate by taking a 20 minute brisk walk after eating. Having small meals wil1 provide your body with a steady supply of nutrients and the smaller amounts of food will not encourage fat storage,
3.) Stay away from simple sugars A list of simple sugars include glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, lactose and maltose. Sugars come from the macronutrient carbobydrates. Carbohydrates are a major source of all body functions. Simple sugars are found in table sugar, candy bars, twinkies, breakfast cereals, soft drinks and fat-free foods. Fructose is normally found in a variety of fruits, corn syrup or energy bars. Fruit is not as great a culprit because of the fibrous content of the skin. These simple sugars can initiate that “insulin spike" we spoke about earlier. Because of this spike, energy lifts, then a drop occurs which leads to another candy bar and another. This same “yo-yo” effect occurs with coffee, plus if you ingest a lot of sugar, you’ll eat a lot less of something else that would have contained essential nutrients. Therefore, sugar can cause malnutrition by displacing nutrients in the diet.
4.) Eat complex carbohydrates You're hungry and a bag of Doritos and a baked potato are in front of you. Which one do you go for? The baked potato of course, but beware, the baked potato can also initiate that "insulin spike." How is that possible? Well, there is another grouping of carbohydrates called the "glycemic index." This measures the rate at which carbohydrates are digested and its effect on blood sugar.
Foods that are high on the glycemic index are: Potatoes, carrots (cooked), honey, cornflakes, rice cakes, and soft drinks.
Foods that are moderate: oranges, grapes, whole wheat pasta, rye bread, apples, sweet potatoes, and soft drinks.
The potato is definitely better than the Doritos because it is a complex carbohydrate or better known as a starch. Starches are large branched chains of glucose units connected together. That's why they yield so much more energy than simple carbohydrates.
Surprisingly enough, you would actually be better off spreading some olive oil, dressing or even a little butter on the potato to slow the absorption of the carbohydrates. Which brings me to my last suggestion.
5.) Eat some fat There are three categories of fats:
• Saturated fat - These are solid at room temperature. The are primarily from animal sources such as meats and dairy products. Vegetable oils, coconut, and palm are also saturated fats. Too much of these fats are bad for your heart and arteries,
• Unsaturated Fat - These fats are normally liquid at room temperature. The source of these fats come from plant sources, vegetables, nuts and seeds. There are two classifications of unsaturated fats: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Olive oil is an example of a monounsaturated fat. The essential fatty acid, linoleic acid is an example of a polyunsatured fat. Heart patients are advised to eat polyunsaturated fats, because it seems they reduce the risk of heart and artery disease. However, only one teaspoon of corn oil or safflower oil would be sufficient to supply the needed amount of essential fatty acids for an adult. The point is, these fats are preferred, but don't eat too much of them.
• Hydrogenated oils - This is a chemical process by which hydrogens are added to unsaturated fats or polyunsaturated fats in order to make them solid at room temperature and improve their "shelf life." However, a byproduct of this process is trans-fatty acids. These fatty acids are not made by the body's cells and are rare in foods. It is not clear that our bodies are equipped to deal with large quantities of trans-fatty acids. The presence of these unusual bodies might create some problems.
Acertain amount of fat is essential in your diet. ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) recommends up to 30% of any diet should come from fat. Fat is your largest energy source, helps to protect and insulate the nervous system and vital organs and assist in the absorption of vitanims A, D, E and K. Eating fat with your meal will help slow down the "insulin spike" which in turn maintains energy throughout the day. Fat does a lot for "taste" as well. Don't eliminate all fats from your diet. "Alittle poison won't kill" and in this case, fat might ironically, help save you from those late night munchies.
I hope these 5 points will help you combat the late night munchies. Good luck!
by John Platero
Are you the victim of the late night munchies? Here's five helpful hints on how to avoid this dilemma.
1.) Plan ahead When I ask people to record a three-day dietary history, not only do they have to write down the amounts and types of foods, but they must also record the times of day they ate their meals. This is where most people tend to screw up. Many eat in the morning and then lunch 4 to 5 hours later, but then won't eat supper until 7:00 or 8:00 o'clock. By then, they're so starved they stuff themselves. The pancreas then reacts by releasing a large amount of insulin to help absorb all the glucose from the food. We call this an "insulin spike." This is normal in fact, this is how the body reacts to food. But, now here's where the problems start.
If you go to sleep immediately after you eat, chances are most of the food will be stored as fat. If you stay up to watch your favorite late night TV show, you'll most likely feel hungry again. You see, after that big spike comes the big valley. Because of all the insulin released to absorb that heavy meal, your body's blood glucose levels have dropped again. Remember, insulin job is help the cell absorb the extra glucose in the blood. Glucose is also the primary fuel source for the brain. Therefore, when your brain senses a drop in insulin, you're hungry again. Oops, late night munchies, you pig out, go to bed and store more fat. So, plan ahead. Eat small meals at regular intervals, maybe every 3-4 hours is best. I tend to think of eating in terms of grazing. If I'm going to be more active that day, then I’ll just graze larger portions. If you keep your meals at regular intervals you'll never be very hungry and chances are you won't be eating late at night.
2. ) Eat small meals R e m e m b e r, digesting food has a thermogenic effect. In other words it takes energy to digest food that's why it's recommended to walk after a meal. In fact, they say you can burn off 20-25% of the calories you just ate by taking a 20 minute brisk walk after eating. Having small meals wil1 provide your body with a steady supply of nutrients and the smaller amounts of food will not encourage fat storage,
3.) Stay away from simple sugars A list of simple sugars include glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, lactose and maltose. Sugars come from the macronutrient carbobydrates. Carbohydrates are a major source of all body functions. Simple sugars are found in table sugar, candy bars, twinkies, breakfast cereals, soft drinks and fat-free foods. Fructose is normally found in a variety of fruits, corn syrup or energy bars. Fruit is not as great a culprit because of the fibrous content of the skin. These simple sugars can initiate that “insulin spike" we spoke about earlier. Because of this spike, energy lifts, then a drop occurs which leads to another candy bar and another. This same “yo-yo” effect occurs with coffee, plus if you ingest a lot of sugar, you’ll eat a lot less of something else that would have contained essential nutrients. Therefore, sugar can cause malnutrition by displacing nutrients in the diet.
4.) Eat complex carbohydrates You're hungry and a bag of Doritos and a baked potato are in front of you. Which one do you go for? The baked potato of course, but beware, the baked potato can also initiate that "insulin spike." How is that possible? Well, there is another grouping of carbohydrates called the "glycemic index." This measures the rate at which carbohydrates are digested and its effect on blood sugar.
Foods that are high on the glycemic index are: Potatoes, carrots (cooked), honey, cornflakes, rice cakes, and soft drinks.
Foods that are moderate: oranges, grapes, whole wheat pasta, rye bread, apples, sweet potatoes, and soft drinks.
The potato is definitely better than the Doritos because it is a complex carbohydrate or better known as a starch. Starches are large branched chains of glucose units connected together. That's why they yield so much more energy than simple carbohydrates.
Surprisingly enough, you would actually be better off spreading some olive oil, dressing or even a little butter on the potato to slow the absorption of the carbohydrates. Which brings me to my last suggestion.
5.) Eat some fat There are three categories of fats:
• Saturated fat - These are solid at room temperature. The are primarily from animal sources such as meats and dairy products. Vegetable oils, coconut, and palm are also saturated fats. Too much of these fats are bad for your heart and arteries,
• Unsaturated Fat - These fats are normally liquid at room temperature. The source of these fats come from plant sources, vegetables, nuts and seeds. There are two classifications of unsaturated fats: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Olive oil is an example of a monounsaturated fat. The essential fatty acid, linoleic acid is an example of a polyunsatured fat. Heart patients are advised to eat polyunsaturated fats, because it seems they reduce the risk of heart and artery disease. However, only one teaspoon of corn oil or safflower oil would be sufficient to supply the needed amount of essential fatty acids for an adult. The point is, these fats are preferred, but don't eat too much of them.
• Hydrogenated oils - This is a chemical process by which hydrogens are added to unsaturated fats or polyunsaturated fats in order to make them solid at room temperature and improve their "shelf life." However, a byproduct of this process is trans-fatty acids. These fatty acids are not made by the body's cells and are rare in foods. It is not clear that our bodies are equipped to deal with large quantities of trans-fatty acids. The presence of these unusual bodies might create some problems.
Acertain amount of fat is essential in your diet. ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) recommends up to 30% of any diet should come from fat. Fat is your largest energy source, helps to protect and insulate the nervous system and vital organs and assist in the absorption of vitanims A, D, E and K. Eating fat with your meal will help slow down the "insulin spike" which in turn maintains energy throughout the day. Fat does a lot for "taste" as well. Don't eliminate all fats from your diet. "Alittle poison won't kill" and in this case, fat might ironically, help save you from those late night munchies.
I hope these 5 points will help you combat the late night munchies. Good luck!
