EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — Eating late at night may be doing more than disrupting sleep — it could be affecting the way the body processes food, according to Dr. Luis Ortiz.
Ortiz said eating after 7 p.m. isn’t just a bad habit, but it’s actually affecting your health, explaining that the body’s metabolism slows down as it prepares for sleep.
“When night comes, and your body starts prepping to go to bed, what happens is that your metabolism slows down,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz explains that there is a “shift of hormones” at night, and that eating a late meal or snack can cause sugar from the meal to remain elevated longer because the body is processing it more slowly.
“Insulin will not be as effective as when someone is awake,” and added that the body shifts from “fat burning to fat storing” at night.
She said fat consumed late may be stored rather than burned, “in your belly and in the buttocks.”
Because of those changes, Ortiz said it is important not to eat “especially after 7 p.m. or two hours before bedtime.”
However, she noted that timing guidance can vary depending on a person’s schedule, particularly for overnight workers.
“This is where generalizations don’t apply to everyone,” Ortiz said, adding that people who work at night “have a different metabolism compared to the ones who work during the day and sleep during the night.”
As for what to avoid late in the day, Ortiz pointed to carbohydrate-heavy and highly processed foods.
“Heavy carbs like tortillas, bread, chips, ultra-processed foods,” he said. If someone does eat late, Ortiz recommended focusing on vegetables or foods that are not high in carbs or fat.
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