Carbs before bed — The dietary bogeyman.
If you’ve been in the nutrition game long enough, you’ll know that carbs before bed are a big no no, right?
You’re just about to sleep, so all your metabolic processes will shut down, you’re not burning any calories over night, so those carbs will get stored as fat, and besides, you’re better off having carbs earlier in the day to give you time to burn them off and use them for energy.
Urgh – uh.
Not only is this complete crapola, the opposite could actually be true.
Carbs Before Bed – My Perspective
Here’s where I want to start with this post. Firstly, my approach to dieting is a flexible one. (The clue was in the blog title!) Therefore, following a flexible diet, you really don’t fret too much over meal frequency, nutrient timing, splitting macros, etc. You eat what you want, when you want to fit your schedule, provided it fits your daily calorie and macronutrient needs.
If this means eating carbs before bed, you go ahead and fill your boots.
Carbs help me sleep. They also make me feel full. I also freaking love carbs, so knowing I have some waiting for me when I get in from evening clients is a great way to keep motivation up when I still have a few hours work left.
Oats – possibly the best motivation in the world?
That’s my standpoint — pretty basic, but it works.
Now for the Science
We can all agree that sleep is pretty damn important for feeling good, recovery, improving performance, keeping the old brain box in gear, right?
Well get this ….. Carbs before bed help you sleep!
A 2007 study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that those eating a high carb meal before bed (and more specifically, a high GI carb meal) took less time to fall asleep than a control group. (1) It kind of makes sense too when you think about it. When I get clients to fill out diet questionnaires, I always ask if there are any foods that make them feel tired, and nearly always get the answers of –
– Bread, pasta, potatoes.
There y’a – our carb-laden friends.
And how easy is it to fall asleep on the sofa after a Sunday roast? (Make that fall asleep on the couch after a Thanksgiving dinner for our American brethren.)
They Help You Lose Weight Too? Get Outta Here.
Yup.
Eating the majority of your carbs before bed can also aid weight loss. Here’s a quote from a 2011 study in the Journal of Obesity –
Greater weight loss, abdominal circumference, and body fat mass reductions were observed in the experimental diet in comparison to controls. Hunger scores were lower and greater improvements in fasting glucose, average daily insulin concentrations, and homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA(IR)), T-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were observed in comparison to controls.
Oh, and if carbs before bed works for John Kiefer (creator of carb backloading and carb nite diets) then they sure as hell aren’t a bad thing.
Abercrombie modelling on steroids
Summary
To wrap things up, if you want to make dieting a hell of a lot easier, don’t listen to this guy –
References
1. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/2/426.full
Tags: bro-science, carbs, flexible dieting, IIFYM, nutrition, nutrition myths
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same here, I`ve tried to avoid carbs in after workout meal, I added extra proteins, had some warm tea, a lot of water before bed but I could not fall asleep (for like 1h) and I did not actually feel that hungry, I just couldn`t relax. I then ate a banana and literally ‘switched off’ immediately….
Ok people on here really need more research before posting myths. A) The worst two possible times to reduce carb intake (especially of the saccaride and disaccaride varieties) is following any type of workout (especially an anabolic one). Im not going to bother to post the studies and science behind this bc i am confident that anyone is able to research this themselves as I did. Also, another bit of info that has been ommitted here is the adverse effect that having carbs in your stomach within 2 hrs before bed on your body’s natural production of growth hormones as you sleep. Anyone serious in their quest for nutritional knowledge needs to research these things thoroughly using multiple expert sources, Not public forums that are teeming with self-made know-it-alls whose sources ae primarily friends of friends and sponsor-filled magazines and articles.
I’d urge you do post the studies to back up the supposed “anabolism” of carbs immediately PWO, and the adverse effect of having carbs in your stomach 2 hours before bed. (You do realise if you don’t want to have any carbs in your stomach before bed, that’d mean not eating carbs for far longer than 2 hours before bed, right?)
Also, what if you work out within 2 hours of going to bed?
The studies would go a long way to backing up what I can confidently say is “bro-science.”
All jokes aside, this is garbage.
Right off the bet: you referenced a single study. To make matters worse; this study literally debunks your own statement. I don’t know about you but most people reference studies that backup their claims instead of refuting them.
Here’s how it works; they tested 2 things: High GI vs Low GI and 4h before bedtime vs 1h before bedtime. I’ll jump to my conclusion quickly: the High GI easily beat the Low GI (which makes sense) however…the High GI 1h before bedtime scored about the same as the Low GI 4h before bedtime…which literally means that carbs before bed are a bad idea and it’s way better to have carbs 4h before bedtime than a single hour before bedtime. How are you unable to read? I don’t get it.
CAL HOLLA: You clearly do not know how to properly read secondary articles. There is NO evidence that you need carbs RIGHT after your workout. Evidence DOES suggest you should eat within 4 hours of your last meal following a workout.
Also, do your research….Carbs before bed does not inhibit GH production. If you really payed attention to these studies, many are skewed.
“Not only did the experimental group consuming the majority of their carbs at night lose significantly more weight and bodyfat than the control group, they also were better satiety and less hunger!”
http://www.simplyshredded.com/carbs-at-night-fat-loss-killer-or-imaginary-boogeyman.html
Layne Norton speaks the truth.
Carbs before bed – Do it up.
Layne Norton is a scam. His Phd was sponsored by the same food companies which food he’s now defending, while totally ignoring the facts.
Totally support this view too.
Carb backloading astounded me when I first found it out but since trying it I’ve been more than pleasantly surprised.
Good article too Mike.
Thanks Mark. I don’t backload per se, but do love keeping some carbs ’til right before bed.
Good point about the intake of carbohydrates. But sometimes it is too hard to control
On the off chance that your an Endomorph, Don’t consume before cot. In the event that your a Mesomorph, you shouldn’t consume before couch however it you do keep it little. On the off chance that your an ectomorph, you have to consume before couch, keep it low carb and HIGH protein.
Get More : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EixdBIuPbo
Personally i say different strokes for different folks i have had lots of trouble sleeping for a couple of months but upon arrivng home from a holiday last week late at night found nothing to eat but spaghetti and rice i ate it out of necessity and had a solid 8 hours sleep wow what a differencei have been eating carbs every night my workouts are a lot more intense i feel great
So eating 4 carbs exactly before bed losses fat? ….
Finally another Carb Backloading person haha I loved this post!
I have heard that simple carbs (my favorite is a bowl or two of lucky Charms) can actually stimulate fat burning because they raises good cholesterol levels that burn calories while you sleep instead of storing them in fat cells.
http://www.biolayne.com/nutrition/carbs-at-night-fat-loss-killer-or-imaginary-boogeyman/
Here is a cool article on it I found
Keep dreaming.
Simple carbs is the single worst thing you can do for your bodyfat% and no amount of sponsored broscience will ever change that.
This might be a silly question but do fruits and vegetables qualify as carbohydrates in the context of this article?
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