No cookies before bed! Snacking after 9 p.m. can be harmful to your health, scientists find

Cookies before bed shouldn’t be part of the menu as a study suggests that snacking after 9pm could be harmful to your health.

The result comes from 854 people in the UK who were asked to record every snack they ate over two to four days.

Their blood sugar levels, which are linked to the risk of type 2 diabetes, and their blood lipid levels, which are linked to the risk of heart attacks and strokes, were then analyzed.

People who reported eating after 9 p.m. had worse readings than those who didn’t eat anything at all after that time.

dr Sarah Berry, senior author of the study from King’s College London, said: “We are a nation of snackers and these results show that people who snack after 9pm tend to choose more unhealthy snacks than those who snack earlier in the day.”

The study, presented at the American Society for Nutrition’s NUTRITION 2023 annual meeting, found that 95 per cent of UK volunteers ate at least one snack a day. However, the researchers found a significant difference in blood sugar and blood fat levels between the 32 percent of people who snacked after 9 p.m. and the 68 percent who didn’t snack after 9 p.m

“By that time, they might be distractedly munching on chocolate and chips in front of the TV.”

“But there’s also evidence that snacking after 9 p.m. doesn’t align with the body clock, which can affect metabolism.”

“It also doesn’t give your body a big fast to recover after eating.”

The study, presented at the American Society for Nutrition’s NUTRITION 2023 annual meeting, found that 95 per cent of UK volunteers ate at least one snack a day.

The average number of snacks per day was 2.3.

Snacking was most popular later in the day: 39 percent of people got at least 50 percent of their calories from snacking between noon and 6 p.m., and 31 percent got at least 50 percent of their calories from snacking in the evening after 6 p.m.

Only 13 percent of people were mid-morning snackers, consuming at least 50 percent of their calories before midday, while 17 percent were “grazers,” snacking throughout the day without a specific time peak.

The researchers found a significant difference in blood sugar and blood fat between the 32 percent of people who did not eat anything after 9 p.m. and the 68 percent who did not eat anything after 9 p.m.

To find out how late night snacking might differ from other people, the researchers gave each person a high-fat, high-carb muffin and then tested their blood.

The normal rise in blood sugar and blood fats, called triglycerides, after eating was greater in people who reported eating at least one snack after 9 p.m. than in those who did not.

The general blood sugar level of these people was also higher, not only after eating.

High blood sugar increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, and high triglyceride levels indicate that someone may not be processing fat properly or that their liver is secreting too much fat, which could increase the risk of cardiovascular events such as a heart attack or stroke.

Late snacking therefore appears to be associated with a greater health risk, even when the researchers adjusted for factors such as people’s weight, physical activity and the general unhealthiness of their meals.

Interestingly, however, people seemed to be able to snack as often as they wanted during the day if they ate quality snacks without any impact on their health.

Researchers asked people to select and weigh each snack they ate, down to the cookie’s brand name, and used a healthy eating score to rank the snacks.

Frequent snackers did not have higher blood sugar and blood lipid levels when they ate healthier snacks than infrequent snackers.

The metrics used in the study, which have not yet been fully published or verified by other scientists, are now commercially available for people who want to track their diet and how it affects their metabolism through the ZOE app, which was set up as a private company by a team that also includes researchers at King’s College London.

dr Berry, senior scientist at ZOE, said: “Although snacks make up about a fifth of people’s daily calories, we don’t know much about them.”

“It’s very interesting that if you choose healthier alternatives like fruit, nuts, and plain yogurt, you can have good snacking throughout the day.”

“Choosing healthy snacking is a really easy way to improve your diet.”

What should a balanced diet look like?

According to the NHS, meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally whole grain

• Eat at least 5 portions of different fruits and vegetables daily. All fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruits and vegetables count

• Base meals are potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally whole grains

• 30 grams of fiber per day: This equates to eating all of the following: 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, 2 whole-wheat granola biscuits, 2 thick slices of whole-wheat bread, and 1 large baked potato with its skin on

• Consume some dairy products or dairy alternatives (such as soy drinks) and choose lower-fat, lower-sugar options

• Eat some beans, legumes, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins (including 2 servings of fish each week, one of which should be oily)

• Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and eat them in small amounts

• Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of water daily

• Adults should consume less than 6g of salt and 20g of saturated fat for women and 30g for men per day

Source: NHS Eatwell Guide