Dear Mark: Night Eating Syndrome
There’s nothing quite so powerful as the urge to eat. Being living organisms that require sustenance and nutrition, we find it difficult to resist. It’s not like smoking, or sex, or drugs, which you can technically avoid and still live, because they aren’t really required for an individual’s survival. No, food is an absolute necessity. So what happens when that basic human requirement for life – the need to eat something – conflicts with another important factor in health – the need to sleep? Today’s edition of Dear Mark deals with exactly that: night-eating syndrome, a real and extremely frustrating eating disorder in which the afflicted awaken during the night, compelled to eat everything and anything. As you’ll see from the following question, when you wake up at 3 AM with a raw, preternatural hunger gnawing at your very core, you’re probably not going to throw together a nice spinach, kale, and watercress salad in lemon vinaigrette and poach a few pastured eggs. You’re going to grab what’s available and what’s easy and what satisfies that carnal urge:
I have no problem eating healthy foods during the day. For some reason, I get up in the middle of the night feeling hungry, and eating whatever junk food (donuts, pastries) my family has in the kitchen. I’ve tried eating more during the day, but I give in to the craving 9 times out of 10. I’ve searched the blog, also tried eating more during the day, but this is the only thing I haven’t found an article on. Not sure if it’s a physical or mental issue. This is the only part of going Primal I’ve struggled with. Any suggestions on how to stop doing this? Thanks for reading.
Alexander
I did some digging around, and while experts have a pretty good handle on what’s going on – hormonally – with night-eating syndrome (PDF), they’re still trying to figure out the etiology, the cause of it all. From what we can tell, someone with night-eating syndrome has lower melatonin at night, which weakens their REM sleep. They have lower leptin, which is an appetite suppressant. Their ghrelin (an appetite stimulant) is phased forward by five hours, meaning they get hungry ahead of “when they should.” They have higher thyroid stimulating hormone (which is also seen in hypothyroid, as the thyroid is trying to “stimulate” more hormone production because it’s lacking). In response to a corticotropin-releasing hormone test, they release less cortisol, which suggests a depleted (overworked, overstressed) hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). They snack more throughout the day and tend to skip breakfast. Rather than eat solid meals, they graze. All signs seem to suggest that both troughs and spikes of their hormonal cycles are muted; since the body needs acute spikes and drops for proper functioning and signaling, this could pose a problem.
So while we don’t have the absolute cause pinned down, it seems like the HPA, or the stress response system, are involved. I do have some general advice. Some of these may not apply to you, but take a look and see if anything looks familiar.
Don’t fast and don’t skip meals. I know, I know. You just got done reading that long series where I touted the benefits of fasting, and here I go telling you not to do it. What gives? Not only do habitual night-eaters tend to avoid breakfast (which could just be a correlation), they’re also hormonally dysregulated, especially in regards to the adrenals. If you’re trying to fix an adrenal issue, you do not want to be skipping meals and playing around with fasting. Fasting is incredibly useful for the intact and the healthy, but it can do a number on people with messed up HPAs. Since nocturnal binge-eaters have a dysfunctional HPA (almost as a rule), that’s probably you.
Eat breakfast, and make it big. I suggest some sort of animal and a serving of fruit.
Eat meals, not snacks. Do three or four solid meals each day, instead of grazing.
Watch your fructose intake, particularly processed refined fructose, which can disrupt leptin.
If you’re training too much or too hard, either cut back or support it with adequate nutrition and recovery time. That means doing CrossFit once or twice a week instead of four or five times (or not at all). That means turning half of your long runs into long walks (or all of them). That means getting plenty of sleep, and if you have a bad night where you get just a few hours, don’t work out the next day (you’ll survive). If you can’t (won’t) cut back on the training, then you have to make sure you’re eating enough calories and enough carbohydrates. I don’t like the idea of filling up on carbs (and I train in such a way that doesn’t require a ton of them for that exact reason), but if you need ‘em, you need ‘em.
Turn off the electronics after dark, and use candles. Might I suggest playing board or card games with friends or a significant other, instead of video games or watching TV? There’s nothing like a game of Jenga by candlelight. If you’re going to use electronics or keep the lights on, get some blue-light blocking goggles. Blue light’s suppression of melatonin may not be causative in night-eating syndrome, but it certainly isn’t helping.
Consider light therapy, especially if you’re indoors during the day. We need exposure to bright light upon waking and during the day (just as we don’t need it at night), but indoor lighting simply doesn’t cut it. If sunlight isn’t an option, look into getting a lightbox. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and night-eating have a lot of crossover, and there have even been case studies showing that patients who suffer from both enjoy amelioration of their symptoms after employing light therapy.
Practice stress reduction or avoidance. Whether that’s avoiding chronic stress (desirable, but not always realistic), improving your reaction to stress, or developing coping mechanisms. Evidence points to a night eater having an over-stressed HPA, and more stress will only worsen the problem. Chris Kresser just wrapped up a 30-day “Best Your Stress” challenge, but you can still follow along and reap the benefits. Read through my previous suggestions for reducing stress as a starter, and consider meditation, too. One study found that a twenty minute muscle relaxation exercise performed daily was able to increase morning appetite and reduce late night eating.
Last, but not least, be honest as you appraise your lifestyle. Are you going to bed early enough? Are you reading this post at 12 AM in a dark room? Are you eating enough food (and the right kind) to fuel your performance? Are you training a bit too much, a bit too often, and should you perhaps tone it down and take some days off? Are you walking as much as you should? Are you reducing stress as much as you can?
While the reigning uncertainty with regards to the cause of this situation is frustrating, you can use this opportunity to try a bunch of different tactics. I hope it helps.
Readers, now it’s your turn. Have you dealt with this problem before? What worked and what didn’t? If you have any more advice, please leave it in the comment section.
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
Great info! It makes sense to be related to stress and not sleeping well. Personally since I started eating a Paleo diet and eliminated gluten I sleep through the night. Thanks again
Hubby has taken sleeping pills for 35 years. We’ve tried to get him off several times and his body is resistant to unassisted sleep nearly to the point of psychosis.
Of course, when you’re on any drug that long, your body gets used to it and it stops working as well. So, they switch him up between five or six different drugs. One of them messes with his hunger signaling big time and he will not only eat when he wakes in the middle of the night, but he will sleep-eat. He generally grabs the first thing he sees, so before I go to bed I’ll make sure there is a veggie-heavy salad all prepped and in that spot for him. That’s helped a lot.
If you sit in front of a computer a lot, f.lux is awesome:
http://stereopsis.com/flux/
It adjusts the blueness of the monitor according to the time. I’ve been using this for a year now and it is definitely better for the eyes.
When I lived with my parents I often stayed up late and ate at night. During school time I’d generally stay up close to midnight. I stayed in my room using my computer (often playing games or watching DVDs) and exercising.
When I wasn’t in school anymore I’d often stay up until 3am or so, sometimes even staying up all night or staying out most of the night and going to bed shortly before or after it got light out. Some of these nights I stuffed myself to an inhuman capacity but generally just wanted a big bowl of something to keep snacking on and something to drink like tea or milk.
I still eat too much at night sometimes. The intestinal traffic and how it feels the next day are always punishment enough to skip a meal or so the next day.
Thank you for clarification around fasting and adrenal fatigue. Two years after my onset on adrenal fatigue, I still cannot skip a meal. I’ll have poor sleep and increased anxiety as a result. Great tips in this post! Many have helped my healing tremendously.
I read that vitamin C and B5 help the body to break down adrenalin. I take these every night before bed with melatonin and for me it works great. I sleep better and don’t feel wasted the next day like I do if I take a sleeping pill. My wife has tried this and it works well for her too.
Don’t fight it! The BEST thing about grain free is guilt free, consequence free, eating in front of the TV after dinner later at night. Every night around 9:00 PM I have to eat or else I won’t sleep well. This is usually what I eat: cheese melted in the microwave on a paper plate, or cream cheese from the container, or peanut butter from the jar. Ahhh, peanut butter. For evenings when I’m plagued by rabid carb cravings, the peanut butter satisfies without going too far off the deep end.
(Yes, I know the debate rages on that peanut butter is technically a grain, and it has sugar,and um, hydrogenated oil – but c’mon, it’s 1,000 times better than high carb desserts, pastries, candies, etc. OK, OK, OK I confess, I still eat peanut butter at some point every day and I am smaller than I’ve been in decades because I shun all other grains…Whew…)
Peanuts are a legume actually. I eat almond butter or pastured butter as a nighttime snack.
I wake up often at night. I don’t feel hungry but used to have a hard time getting back to sleep. Then I learned zazen or breathing meditation. This almost always works, i.e. concentrating on my breathing. It was the thoughts and worries that kept me awake. Zazen loosens the grip of these and my body takes over. I don’t know if this will help those who are hungry but suggest it in case it does.
It sounds to me like your body getting the jitters about going from carb-burning to fat-burning metabolism. Granted this was mostly pre-primal for me, but I ate according to Protein Power more or less for years. If the carbs snuck back in, I’d have to do a carb detox. I would feel like I was dying, literally STARVING, even though I just ate. The best way I found to get past that was to allow myself to eat if I felt hungry even if I ate 20 minutes ago, but to eat protein and fat. No carbs. In a couple of days, I would settle back into a regular diet. I’ve gone through this cycle probably seven or eight times over the past ten years. It’s worked every time. Don’t beat yourself up, just eat the right things. After the first time, I got through it no problem because I knew once I switched over to fat-burning, I wouldn’t even care about the crap I shouldn’t be eating. Hope this helps!
Mark, Thanks for the article and especially the very good journal link. Are you aware of any links between NES and nighttime sweating? Are they connected by hypothalamic disregulation? I overtrained and underate my way into oblivion last year and NES and sweating (profuse, bed soaking) were the two of the most prominent symptoms.
Mark~
I suffer from an eating disorder bulimia, and I for the life of me can’t stop! I have tried diets and eating small meals but being in collage my diet consist of sugars and carbs…I ate a steak for the first time in MONTHS and felt satisfied and didn’t binge.
Please help me if you can I am desperate!!
Thank you
Cindy, what I wouldn’t give to have been told in college what I’m about to tell you.
YOU KNOW THE ANSWER. The steak has already spoken. Sugar IS the cause of your bulimia. Right now, write down a plan to be able to get meat & eggs & natural fats in your diet. Sell your books, buy them used, live with a friend, sell your cousin, just do it.
Then get up tomorrow morning and eat a HUGE FREAKING breakfast. All protein and fat. 3 eggs, four pieces of breakfast sausage, at least 50g of protein. Eat a nice piece of meat for lunch (and a big old salad if you like). Repeat lunch for dinner. Then next morning, eat the big freaking breakfast again, followed by another moderate lunch and dinner.
If you feel you must have sweets or carbs, do it at the end of one of these meals, not in between. And no matter if you end up bingeing, even a few weeks into not bingeing at all, go ahead and have your next meal. It’s the best thing you can do to prevent another binge. DO NOT SKIP MEALS.
Sweet Cindy, please go into the forums here at Mark’s Daily Apple and search on my username. Find my journal and start reading, especially from March 2011 to November 2011. MDA + big protein breakfast has ended my decade-long eating disorder and given me my freedom back. This can happen for you, too – it’s under your control. Resisting sweets, when they’re talking to you all day long is not under your control, but I have just given you the keys to TURNING OFF THEIR VOICES so you can go about your days in peace without any thoughts of food.
Go. Do it now! Come post in my journal and tell me how it’s going!! I’d love to help you troubleshoot the issues that arise with the college scenario.
I have one last question I hope Mark or anyone can answer. I am 24 years old extremely active, like 25,000 steps on an average day. My 40 hour a week job (in a stock room) keeps me on my feet for an average of 7.5 hours just at work, lifting boxes, and climbing stairs with heavy loads. I’m also an avid walker. I really enjoy it, sometimes I’ll walk to work, which is about 2.5 miles away from home. (Safe to say I have the move frequently at a slow pace part down…?) Mark (or anyone who would know) How many grams if carbs should I eat daily? Is it more than 150g? Could this be part of the problem?
Wow that definitely sounds like part of the problem! I mean, I think anyone could reasonably eat and think they were satisfied, when you are moving at a slow pace, but if I were you I would get hungry later in the night too.
Look, I hate to be blunt but are you trying to lose weight too. Because if you don’t fix this sleep thing that weight will come off temporarily but it will be nothing compared to -I think-your guilt, and not sleeping well. The solutions on here are great but there is no one size fits all approach. Fix the night time bingeing. Stop feeling guilty. In my opinion that’s the worst thing you can feel about your new lifestyle-remember this isn’t a diet. Eat a HUGE breakfast. More than you can possibly imagine. And because of the activity of your job, I would say to up the protein, and fat. Try 60g. What do you have to lose, other than getting a good night of sleep? And if you still binge try 70g. And yes, eat some freaking carbs if you want!!! But relax-take one thing at a time, too. Easier said than Done I know. Please post in the logs here and let me know how it goes.
Alexander-sorry to keep on you! But, I think the amount of carbs is your least problem. Seriously, the best thing I have found to stop bingeing-and I never knew others who had sleeping problems do this, but I do mine during the day and feel guilty-so I am in your same spot-is doing what mamagrok says-eating 4 eggs, 5 sausages, sometimes a filet of steak or fish, slathered in butter or coconut oil. If you are taking in a lot of fat and protein your body will not let you to binge. Your stomach stops ruling you. It took me about 3 months of eating what I thought was priMal to realize that yes, I had been scared of the fat. But it was my blind spot and it is hard to see your own blind spots, and I realized mine only when I saw a friday true story guy, asian, saying that he had a really hard time shaking off sugar, and he really amped up the fat. And I thought-hey, that is me! Amping up the fat, not carbs, helped me-but don’t do something just because someone on here said so, you have to experiment! Or maybe ask a paleo doctor as well, if that is an option-not or me. That mood cure book sounds interesting too. Your gut is telling you something.
sorry, I left out – the best thing is eating a HUGE breakfast, as mamamgrok advises – I will eat a huge piece of steak, hamburger, chicken, fish, eggs – but it’s amazing how full I feel all day and how this is the only thing that ever stopped me from bingeing. I feel very passionately about this issue, clearly. And Alexander, I know it’s tough for you with your job, probably, to know how much you need to be eating, but keep increasing your protein and fat at breakfast. The mood cure, the leptin reset – I think, as one of the previous posters said, there is a point where you can only do so much but need help resetting your hormones…
I actually used to weigh 305lbs as a teen, but slimmed down during my college years to 230. Going Primal has gotten me to 215 effortlessly, but I have love handles towards my back, and fat on my legs, besides having a lean upper body.
This post is a god send I cannot tell you how long and hard I’ve tried to fight this “Night Eating Syndrome”. It is a B**** and its stopping me from losing this weight once and for all. In addition, the analysis of the hormones seems to be dead on and the source of why I cannot lose weight…
if I were to try to balance my adrenals and hypothyroidism does coffee inhibit that and cause more hunger due to the caffeine possible amplified effects by my body’s fight or flight response?
I’d get checked for parasites. I think this is something that should be talked about more.
You can do a simple wormwood/black walnut tincture (get a brand on Amazon with a higher average rating, and be sure to get the kind made with alcohol) for three weeks, and you will be amazed at what you pass.
Hi,
I’ve suffered in the past with NES. I can happily say that I currently do not have this condition anymore and could not be happier! Here is a short version of my story: For many years I would wake 3-5 times a night to eat anything sugary and could not fall back asleep without doing so. I was sleep deprived, gained weight, became extremely depressed, etc.. I went to see a sleep specialist who prescribed me sleeping pills (which did not help at the time). A few years later I administered myself at the hospital for an eating disorder program hoping to fix my NES but soon to realize that I also was suffering from much more.. I was also anorexic, bulimic and had a binge eating disorder. Going through therapy was part of the program, and by doing so I found that dealing with my stress also helped lessen the night eating episodes. For me I realized that I dealt with my stress at night by eating. Things got progressively better until I would only wake a few times a week. Last year, I was having major stomach problems, sugar cravings, acne, eczema, etc. I went to see a Naturopath only to discover that I had a yeast overgrowth in my system. I was put on a colon cleanse for the duration of 3 months. I swear, within 2 weeks of doing this… I was never waking up again to eat!!! I’ve never had such good sleep. What really did it for me was changing the way I dealt with my stress and the way or what I was eating. Cutting ALL sugars out was very important. I tried going Paleo, but the natural sugars (honey, maple sugar, etc.) started to make me crave artificial sugars and I slowly started getting NES episodes again. So I just cut it out completely. However, I can eat a small amount of fruits every day. If anyone would like additional information just reply to this post and I’d be happy to share more information
Good luck!
Hi Valerie,
Could you describe what your colon cleanse routine consisted of?
Also, so did you go straight no carb? I notice I do better w/ NES when i go lower carbs as well, but significant other says I get cranky when I work out w/o carbs (and generally low on calories in general)…hah!
Hi Evan,
I will try and summarize this as best as possible! The first step for the colon cleanse consisted of avoiding sugar, yeast and vinegar. The first two weeks were very strict meaning I could not have any fruits, any tea or coffee, milk, as well as red meat. Protein was very important (just like Paleo), I was required to eat protein at every meal, and I also was required to alternate between rice, sweet potatoes and rice pasta for dinner. After 2 weeks I was able to incorporate 2 servings of fruits a day, tea, salsa & guacamole (no vinegar). After a month or two I was able to re-introduce red meats. If you like drinking (I do here and there!), Sapporro beer was the only type of alcohol that I could have after 2-3 months since it’s made with rice and has no or hardly any yeast. The cleanse if very specific! But in general you just need to eliminate any artificial sugars, yeast and vinegar as mentioned above.
The second step is to be done at the same time but consist of taking herbal supplements to help kill/clear the yeast. The supplements required can differ from one person to another. My Naturopath used kinesiology to determine which ones by body required. Her theory regarding all this was that it was the yeast craving the sugar therefore it was making me wake up at night. It constantly wanted to be fed. Whether I believe it or not I’m not sure, but the cleanse definitely got rid of my NES!
I tried going completely Paleo (no carb) for about a month and I found it very difficult because I was starting to crave more sugar. My candida eventually came back. I have now started the whole cleansing process again and I feel much better! I’m not sure if it was the no carbs or because I was eating natural sugar (ie. honey) that caused the sugar cravings to come back.
I hope this helps!
To Aek,
Reading your post triggered a thought about Hyperparathyroidism. You mention a lot of the symptoms.
Don’t know how old your are, but if you are over 30 , give or take , and have a serum calcium over 9.9, this just might be an issue.
Adults with healthy parathyroids have calcium levels in the “9′s”. Higher and fluctuating levels mean an issue.
People go for YEARS undiagnosed and feel like utter crap as a result. I know I did.
check out http://www.parathyroid.com if any of this resonates with you. Best of luck!
Maybe this is why I had such trouble fasting.
I autoimmune problems, which has messed up my thyroid & stopped me ovulating.
I tried fasting to repair it all and it started really well – I really did lose my appetite and felt mentally alright at the start but the lack of energy just crushed me. I kept waiting for the rush everyone talks about but by day 10 of water fasting I couldn’t get out of bed or lift my head up and had to stop.
I would be very grateful for an explanation of why people with damaged HPA can’t fast.
Thanks
Hi,
Maybe this is an unrelated problem, I am not sure…
I had a problem with binge eating before going to bed. Although my stomach was full at dinner, I needed to eat 1 hour later. What I felt was odd that I seldom felt thirsty (not even during the day), I only felt hungry.
What I did was, regular and planned eating throughout the week, and one fasting day, where I did not eat anything for a whole day (for me it is Friday).
But before I started fasting I made sure that I am ketone adapted (used to binge eat meat and nuts mainly) and that I do not have reflux (a reflux can give you terrible hunger pains) anymore.
For me fasting really worked, because since the first fasting I drink much more, and eat way less, it seems that I my body confused thirst for hunger anymore.
I am not sure this would work, as I clearly had a problem with thirst…
Thanks for sharing the information on late night eating. I am thankful I have never had this problem. However, I do notice that if I eat a larger meal than normal in the evening my blood sugar is out of whack and I am starving when I wake up.
Since I have tried the Paleo diet, I have noticed that my blood sugar is level throughout the day and I don’t have the highs & lows that come with eating too much sugar. Plus I sleep better at night.
Wow. I have to say I was shocked to hear that this is such a common problem. I have dealt with that I refer to as “sleep-eating” for a few years now and I always just assumed it was because my metabolism was super fast from working out so much and fasting during the day which I’ve been doing for about a year now. Pretty much every night I wake up around 2:30AM and wander into my kitchen to stuff my face. I’ve tried almond butter, but unfortunately I F****** LOVE it so I’ll eat like half a jar without even realizing. Last night I also downed about half a pint of ben and jerry’s. Now typically I don’t fret too much about this because other than my nightly binges I am extremely healthy and work out super hard. However, I just landed myself a stress fracture in my hip and am currently on crutches for the next 6-8 weeks so these nightly feasts aren’t exactly falling off the way they typically would and I find myself even more likely to partake in them being that I’m really struggling with my inability to move and exercise the way I typically do. Suggestions anyone? LOVE this site btw.
Awesome article Mark. I’ve been researching fasting and am continually finding how incompatible it is for t2 diabetes/obese population, largely due to their current circadian programming. Anyway, the search goes on! Well researched piece. Good advice.
When I was in school I played soccer year-round. It meant 3 mornings in the weight-gym and 2 hour intense practices on all weekday afternoons if we weren’t playing a game. When I was training this hard, I would have to eat a TON to not wake up in the middle of the night shivering from cold or very hungry. People always told me how amazing I looked and I had low body fat, but I felt really tired and hungry all the time. I haven’t thought about that in years and at the time I assumed that I wasn’t trying hard enough and I was the only one this was happening to. After reading your letter, I think you should seriously take a look at your training and see a doctor.
I’ve been fasting between 9pm and 1pm each day… Despite training heavily, I’ve found that my appetite has decreased significantly and adhering to the “fast” has really helped me prevent night time binging (and eating in general).
I’m supplementing with a zero cal BCAA mix (Scivation XTEND) and I find this really helps with hunger cravings. Especially post-workout as I have approx 5-6 hours of fasting after my morning session.
Hi Mark, all,
Night Eating Syndrome, so far as I can tell, is greatly influenced by the activity of Hypocretin Neurons. Hypocretin neurons interact with leptin– leptin signals to them to be quiet– but it’s a whole lot more complicated than that. Hypocretin neurons fire both for appetite as well as for arousal. Anyway. I wrote about it here, if anyone is interested:
http://www.paleoforwomen.com/night-eating-syndrome-an-effect-of-hpa-axis-and-appetite-dysregulation-among-other-things/
and here:
http://www.paleoforwomen.com/hypocretin-neurons-the-link-between-fasting-stress-and-arousal-or-why-fasting-breeds-insomniacs/
Stefani
I find that if I eat right before bed it helps. Some might argue that it’s not good for digestion and/or sleep. But I see it as more of a transition from my NES. Instead of eating carbs during the night, I will eat carbs right before bed (fruits, rye bread, etc.). Eventually I will try to eat less closer to bed time.
Hey Mark and everyone, just in case anyone was interested in my progress, I have an update: After about a month of experimenting unsuccessfully, I seem to have found the answer. First, I cut all forms of sugar (even fruit) out of my diet for at least 3 weeks, I’m on week 2 so far. Next I bought a bag of prunes as a safety net of sorts for intense sugar cravings. Then I committed to eating a huge breakfast (4-6 egg omelette with veggies and meat) every morning. I also stopped snacking and eat 3 big meals and a snack of about 8-12 ounces of just meat. I only drink water and occasionally coconut water, and eat 3 hours before bed. I work late, so I get home around 2am, drink water, and sleep. The only drawback is I wake up at 6 really hungry, but that’s when I have my omelet and go back to sleep. I also stopped working out for 3 weeks until today. The only hard time was the first night, when I almost had cake. I put the prunes next to the cake earlier, and ate that. The next few nights, I had prunes and milk, then just prunes, now I don’t eat any sugar at night. It’s been 2 weeks almost, and I feel great. I don’t even think about it. Thanks Mark, and everyone else for your help! I hope I can keep at it!
Well if you are going to sleep at 2am then 6am is like the “middle of the night” for you… if we go to sleep at 10pm we wake at 2am really hungry… so really you are still eating in the middle of the night? However I am going to try out the bigger breakfast thing, aswell as the 3 larger meals + 1 snack before bed.
Cheers
i have same problem.my Gopi and my age is 50 then my problem, i had my dinner wel but i feel hunger in mid night near 2 clock any1 solve my problem
I have lived with this problem for years now – I don’t even know if I’m really hungry when I go get a snack in the middle of the night or if it has just become a bad habbit. I am a very light sleeper. Even though I know I should eat some protein if I am looking for a midnight snack – I go right for the ice-cream / juice / chocolate. I am so frustrated. Melatonin helps but then I am groggy the whole next day. I thought your advice was interesting since I take cortisone and thyroid medication (pituitary tumor).
I am about 40 lbs overweight and despite my best efforts during the day (yes, I eat breakfast), the night time always derails my efforts.
Last night I tried having a pitch black room. I even put a cloth over the alarm clock. I installed flux on my computer too. I slept right through the night without waking! This morning I had a big breakfast with lots of protein and I am going to try to eat 3 large meals a day + maybe a snack before bed if I need it and see how this goes. It felt so strange eating such a big breakfast and I feel very satisfied right now, but I suppose if I am eating less before bed and not eating during the night I will need a big breakfast to fill me up. I will let everyone know how this goes for me. Cheers for the Post Mark and also for everyones comments and tips.
I’ve been a “night eater” for a long time now. I try to fight it and just stay in bed but I usually give in 99% of the time. I’ll go in the kitchen and grab cookies, take a fork and dig into a cake until I’m satisfied, grab cheese crackers, candy, ham slices, ANYTHING to satisfy the craving! I DO notice, though, that my preference is for the sweeter things. Now here’s the weird part. Currently my Doctor has me monitoring my blood sugar levels because recent lab results have her concerned about pre or even Diabetes. It runs rampant in my family! This is NOT the first time a Doctor has questioned my blood sugar levels.
Anyway, so far I’ve tested several times BEFORE meals, when I first wake up, a couple hours after meals etc. Before meals (when fasting), I’ve been averaging about 104. 2 hours after meals I’ve been averaging about 137 (and these were usually high carb meals), I’m usually about 107 when I go to bed. So one night I woke up, as usual, about 3:45 am with my HUNGER need. I thought it would be a PERFECT TIME to test my sugar level! I was positive my sugar level would be very LOW and that’s WHY I wanted to eat.
To my surprise, my reading was 176!! I don’t get it?? So that night I FOUGHT OFF eating anything, for fear I’d raise it even higher! I drank some water and went back to bed, feeling very unsatisfied!! When I woke up a few hours later, I checked it again before I ate and it was back down to 107! Anyone have any ideas about what happened and how my “night eating” may or may not have anything to do with my elevated blood sugar??
Hey I have t1 diabetes and when it was out of control and my sugars were very high during the night I would ALWAYS get up to eat. There was no way I could stop.. but since controling sugars better (as long as they are not too low) i dont get up and feel much better.
My night eating is interesting. I find if I take an OTC sleeping pill to help fall asleep, that within 15 minutes I am ravenously hungary! I get up at least twice a night to eat and immediately fall back asleep no problem. Some mornings I have no idea what I ate the night before. The worst is when I once woke up with my tongue black. I obviously became worried thinking I ate who knows what during the night. I went toy dentist and it turns out that if you take Pepto bismol, there is the possibility it could turn your tongue black. I did that the night before because of an upset stomach. Check the bottle the next you grab for it. I wish I could kick the night eating, because it is very disruptive for the one that has to sleep with me.