Don’t eat carbohydrates after…! Is it true?

Carbohydrates in the evening: what really matters?

Today’s topic is something we’ve been meaning to write about for a long time. It’s a nutrition myth that simply refuses to die, and we hear it all the time: “You shouldn’t eat carbohydrates after ‘X’ o’clock because they’ll all turn into body fat.” How many times have we heard that? We hear it so often that many people believe you should never, under any circumstances, eat carbohydrates after 18.00, 19.00 or 22.00. What follows will probably come as a big surprise to many of you, because in this article I’ll try to show that eating carbohydrates in the evening doesn’t make you fat.

People blindly believe that the closer it gets to evening, and especially to bedtime, the more you should restrict your carbohydrate intake. It’s actually pretty ridiculous—people refuse to accept that carbohydrates don’t make us fat; excess calories do.

(1) Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem conducted an experiment in which participants followed a calorie-deficit diet for six months. The participants were divided into two groups: a control group and an experimental group.

Both groups consumed the same amounts of calories, protein, carbohydrates and fat, but the timing of their carbohydrate intake differed.

• One group (the control group) spread its carbohydrate intake throughout the day.
• The experimental group consumed most of its daily carbohydrates (about 80%) in the evening.

After 6 months on the diet, the experimental group had lost more weight, reduced its waist circumference more and lost more body fat than the control group. Participants in this group also felt less hungry and experienced greater satiety from their food throughout the day. Many of you are probably wondering how that’s possible.

Adiponectin levels were also much higher in the experimental group. This hormone is associated with fat burning and plays an important role in improving insulin sensitivity. Leptin levels were slightly higher too. Leptin is another hormone that plays an important role in fat burning. If you consistently eat every 2 – 3 hours, your body gets used to receiving a “glucose shot” at those intervals, effectively training it to need carbohydrates at a certain frequency. This regular influx of carbohydrates also negatively affects insulin sensitivity. Leaving 4 – 5 hours between meals therefore increases insulin sensitivity, making your body much more responsive to the carbohydrates in a meal.

(2) During training, your body enters a catabolic state relatively quickly and doesn’t become anabolic until you’ve consumed a certain amount of protein. Insulin sensitivity is also elevated after a workout, and carbohydrates are put to good use during this period.

What’s more, if you train in the evening, you still need carbohydrates to recover and initiate glycogen resynthesis. Insulin sensitivity is higher after a workout than at rest, so eating carbohydrates after training, even in the evening, is perfectly normal, and you don’t need to worry about them turning into fat. Your body doesn’t think, “It’s evening, so I’ll store these carbohydrates as fat regardless of the circumstances.” Eating them doesn’t reduce your insulin sensitivity or impair your metabolism.

If you don’t train later in the day but still eat carbohydrates in the evening, nothing bad will happen as long as you don’t exceed your daily calorie allowance. If you train during the day, whatever the time, it doesn’t matter when you eat those carbohydrates: your body will still preferentially direct them to your muscles rather than convert them into fat. That is, of course, provided your total daily calorie intake is appropriate (3, 4).

If you lead a sedentary lifestyle, you naturally need to choose carefully how much carbohydrate you eat later in the day and which types. Clearly, your daily calorie intake comes first. Second, if you don’t engage in physical activity, your carbohydrate intake should be very modest and carefully controlled, and you should choose slowly absorbed complex carbohydrates rich in dietary fiber (oat flakes, brown rice, stewed root vegetables). On inactive days, you should also be sure to pair carbohydrates eaten later in the day with high-quality protein foods. A meal combining protein, dietary fiber and slowly absorbed carbohydrates is digested and absorbed slowly, and its energy should be released gradually. This should be enough to sustain you for the next 6 – 8 hours overnight. Complex carbohydrates eaten in the evening that are absorbed slowly throughout the night also spare muscle protein.

A large serving of simple carbohydrates (white sugars, candy and the like) without any protein foods sends your insulin levels “through the roof” very quickly. Protein is an important component of a meal because it slows the rate at which the entire meal is absorbed. And this doesn’t apply only to simple carbohydrates: large amounts of complex carbohydrates also raise insulin levels very quickly. Many processes are happening at once. So, opt for controlled portions of complex carbohydrates plus protein later in the day, especially if you’ve spent the whole day sitting. Some people tolerate carbohydrates better than others; for some, just a small amount at the wrong time is enough to cause weight gain. You need to know your own body!

It really is curious where the idea comes from that you must stop eating carbohydrates after “X” o’clock. “If you eat them, those carbohydrates will turn into fat.” No study has confirmed this nutrition myth. But before you head to the shop to pick up some sweets for tonight, we did not say that you should always eat all your carbohydrates in the evening, regardless of the circumstances. It simply is not as clear-cut as saying that if you eat carbohydrates in the evening, they will all be stored as fat.

Do not be afraid of carbohydrates or cling blindly to myths. They are an important nutrient that our bodies need in certain circumstances. Eating carbohydrates in the evening alone does not make anyone fat; excess calories overall are stored as fat.

References:

(1) Sofer S, et al. Greater weight loss and hormonal changes after 6 months diet with carbohydrates eaten mostly at dinner. J Oby. 2011 Oct: 19(10):2006-14.
(2) Layne Norton
(3) Frosig C, Richter EA. Improved insulin sensitivity after exercise: focus on insulin signaling. Obesity 2009;17(Suppl 3):S15-S20.
(4) Maarbjerg SJ, Sylow L, Richter EA. Current understanding of increased insulin sensitivity after exercise – emerging candidates. Acta Physiol 2011;202:323-335.

Original article: Don’t Eat Carbs After…

Author: Janar Rückenberg (translation)

Source:Turg.Fitness.ee

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