Everyone knows: if you follow a figure and are worried about your health – do not eat up for the night. But all the same, scientists have found out that some products can and even need to eat before going to bed, and they do not bring any harm to the person.
Studies of Western scientists
American researchers of healthy nutrition tested several groups of people, some of whom dined every day until 18 hours, and others – almost before bed. The results, which turned out to be completely unpredictable, they published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Those people who ate late at night, the next morning, before and after breakfast had the same, average blood sugar level. The other part of the subjects, who last took their meals before 6 pm, had a low sugar level in the morning, on an empty stomach, and immediately after breakfast – high, and even exceeding the norm. And such jumps adversely affect not only the figure but also the health of the person as a whole. Based on these studies, scientists came to the conclusion that healthy people, adhering to the idea of proper nutrition, just need dinner before bed. But the dishes on their evening table should contain a low glycemic index. Then the next day the level of sugar in their blood will be stable in the norm.
Recommendations of domestic doctors
Also, dinner at home, local nutritionists recommend to those people who start their morning with a daily jog, with a set of certain physical exercises or even before breakfast swims in the pool. Those who are actively engaged in losing weight, too, should think about how to arrange a nightly snack. It will help control your appetite for the next day. But the decrease in the feeling of hunger is a key strategy in the long-term success of weight loss.
Late overfishing is simply necessary for office workers who do not have breakfast until they come to work, and that category of men who daily engage in heavy physical labor. They all need to eat half an hour before bedtime, but their supper should contain a low glycemic index. Only, in this case, all the above categories of people will not have problems with either the figure or with the cardiovascular activity.
Dishes for a late snack
So what are those products that contain a low glycemic index? These include low-fat varieties of meat and fish, steamed, stewed without butter beans with vegetables, sea kale in brine, scrambled eggs from egg whites with the addition of a large amount of dill and parsley. Well-suited for a night dinner vegetable salads: cut into pieces of celery stalks with lettuce leaves “Iceberg” or grated beetroot and carrots, and all this should be tucked with Greek yoghurt. You can eat a handful of hazelnuts, boiled shrimps or a little cottage cheese, drink a cup of low-fat chicken broth, ryazhenka or kefir.
But what about fruits, because they are all useful? American researchers do not believe and advise most fruits to use at night. These include fiber-rich bananas, peaches, passion fruit, grapes. Late in the evening, without problems, you can eat mandarin, kiwi or a slice of pineapple. And it’s good to drink a glass of water for the night, in which to put a couple of frozen cubes of coconut milk or apple, lemon juice.
Debunking myths
The myth of the “French” nighttime supper is still very stable, or else it is called the “Italian” way of life. This is when during a late snack, usually consisting of a dish of Mediterranean cuisine, a glass of dry red wine is drunk daily. This is how the French and Italians from time immemorial come and thus allegedly support their figure in order. Indeed, tartaric acid does not allow fat to be absorbed. Just at night fermentation of wine materials in the intestines causes not only its gas content, but also slagging, and this leads to hormonal failures and other unpleasant gastro-enteritis phenomena.
Almost all categories of people need light late dinners, but they must be considered in terms of quality, quantity, and composition and, of course, do not contain alcoholic and carbonated beverages.