Carbohydrates should not be eaten in the evening. How many hours before bedtime can you eat? After what time can you not eat at night? What is better to eat proteins or carbohydrates at night? Proper nutrition: the important role of proteins and carbohydrates

Carbohydrates should not be eaten in the evening. How many hours before bedtime can you eat? After what time can you not eat at night? What is better to eat proteins or carbohydrates at night? Proper nutrition: the important role of proteins and carbohydrates

20.10.2021 Complications

Olya Likhacheva

Beauty is like a precious stone: the simpler it is, the more precious it is:)

31 Mar 2017

Content

Most diets offered by open sources require you to eat only proteins for weight loss, but this is unwise for your health. It is much more important to know what carbohydrates you can eat when losing weight, what foods contain them, and the difference between slow and fast. Based on this information, it’s easy to create an individual nutrition plan for yourself that will prevent you from starving but will help correct your figure.

What are carbohydrates

If proteins are the building blocks for muscle tissue, and fats are needed for blood vessels and the heart, then carbohydrates are a source of energy, without which the body’s vital functions are impossible. Their complete exclusion, as you might guess, leads to the fact that a person becomes lethargic, experiences weakness, cannot concentrate on basic tasks, and feels hungry. Doctors say that a deficiency of this macronutrient in the diet (as happens during active weight loss) is the main reason for the craving for “harmful” foods (chocolate, cookies), since they contain glucose - alternative source energy.

Figuring out what carbohydrates you can eat when losing weight is the main task of every person who cares about their health. A simple classification helps with this, according to which they are divided into:

complex or slow;
simple or fast.

Complex carbohydrates

This group is characterized by a large number of structural units - among which are glycogen, fiber and starch. Moreover, the last element is a set of simple saccharides, and the first is responsible for energy production. Fiber or cellulose is required for saturation and is a slowly digestible element, and is not completely digested. Complex carbohydrates can be eaten frequently because they do not stimulate sharp fluctuations in insulin, and their constituent units additionally help reduce overall sugar levels. This is their most useful type.

Fast carbohydrates

An alternative name for this group is easily digestible or simple carbohydrates. They are distinguished by a minimum number of structural units: no more than 2 molecules. They are processed in a matter of seconds, so they enter the blood almost instantly and provoke a spike in sugar with a high glycemic index. This entails an instant rise in energy, but it falls at the same speed. Fast carbohydrates can be eaten when you have a loss of strength, when you need to urgently restore performance for a short period of time, but they fill you up for a short time, so it turns out to be a vicious circle.

What foods contain carbohydrates

Almost all foods have some amount of this macronutrient, excluding meat (even shellfish), which is a source of protein. Although after heat treatment it receives a certain amount of carbohydrates if it is supplemented with seasonings, sauces, etc. The same applies to lard and vegetable oils, but here fats predominate. Hard cheeses (Parmesan, Gruyère, etc.) are also deprived of this macronutrient.

Most carbohydrates in food are found in:

cereal crops;
plant foods (vegetables/fruits);
bakery products;
dairy products;
eggs.

Foods high in carbohydrates

Even when losing weight, you can safely use carbohydrate foods in your diet, but you need to take into account its composition and understand your daily intake. Products high in carbohydrates are not enemies to the figure and can even be one of the basic elements of the menu if they are difficult-to-digest compounds and not simple sugars. The main carbohydrate-containing products are:

bread and related products (bread, cookies, buns, pies, etc.);
confectionery;
sweet drinks;
pasta;
cereals (this includes both cereals and flakes);
potato;
mayonnaise;
honey, sugar;
fruits;
nuts, seeds;
dairy products.

Products with minimal carbohydrate content

Finding food that has almost no this macronutrient is easy if you remember the calorie content of 1 gram of carbohydrate - it’s about 4.1 kcal. A simple logical conclusion would be: foods with minimal carbohydrate content are foods with minimal energy value. Among them:

greenery;
vegetables (excluding the previously mentioned potatoes, boiled carrots and beets);
eggs;
mushrooms;
feta cheese and other soft cheeses.

Slow carbohydrate foods

The basis of a healthy diet should be complex macronutrients, since they satiate for a long time and do not cause insulin spikes. All products with slow carbohydrates have a high calorie content, but this is the case when these numbers are beneficial when losing weight. The list of such products is as follows:

porridge (with water, since milk is a source of lactose or sugar, which causes a rise in insulin) from cereals, not flakes, which have not been actively purified;
wholemeal bread;
the legume group - chickpeas, beans, lentils, peas - is additionally a source of vegetable protein, and therefore is valued for weight loss and among vegetarians;
vegetables, among which the leaders in terms of benefits (due to the amount of fiber) are all types of cabbage, zucchini, tomatoes, and peppers.

Products with fast carbohydrates

You can determine the sources of simple carbohydrates by referring to their chemical composition - if a product contains a large amount of sugars, it will be classified as easily digestible. All sweets (cakes, candies, etc.) are automatically included in this group, even honey, which is considered safe for weight loss. Dark chocolate is included here, although it can be replaced with milk chocolate due to its good composition. Almost all factory products contain fast carbohydrates, since flavoring additives often contain sugar, even in sauces and mayonnaise.

A few more nuances:

Semolina is the only porridge that is considered an “empty” carbohydrate.
Cane sugar is not light in calories, but the same as refined white sugar.
Snacks and breakfast cereals, even if they are based on cereals, are a secondary product, which is a set of “empty” macroelements.
Preserves, jams and confitures, even homemade ones, also provoke sugar surges due to GI.

Norm of carbohydrates per day

The daily amount of this element is never reset to zero, even if you are aimed at rapid weight loss. Completely eliminate carbohydrates - start active burning of glycogen, but at the same time give impetus to dysfunction nervous system, liver, kidneys, heart and other systems. In addition, excess protein, which is typical for weight loss methods of this type, leads to ketoacidosis - poisoning of the body with elements of its breakdown. If you calculate your individual carbohydrate intake per day, you can lose weight without such dire consequences and without feeling constant hunger.

When dieting

There is a classic rule that is relevant even for those who want to lose weight quickly - the proportion of carbohydrates in a diet should not be less than half of the daily plate. The ideal ratio is 7:3, where the smaller number refers to the sum of fats and proteins. A shortage is fraught with a permanent feeling of year, as a result of which it will be difficult to maintain the diet. At the same time, simple carbohydrate foods are completely excluded during weight loss, and the indicated figure will need to be supplemented only by those that the body will absorb for a long time.

When losing weight

Even if you need to quickly lose weight, you can only reduce the daily amount of carbohydrates in your diet to 50 g. An individual calculation is more reasonable, according to which at least 2.5 grams of this macronutrient are taken for every kilogram of body weight. So for a woman weighing 55 kg daily norm carbohydrates for weight loss will be 137.5-140 g. If there is physical activity, the consumption of this microelement per day increases to 5 g/kg.

What carbohydrates should you eliminate to lose weight?

From the information above, you can highlight the key point - simple sugars pose a danger to your figure. As a result, you yourself can easily tell which carbohydrates you should not eat when losing weight – fast ones, i.e. sources of high GI. Their main problem is the synthesis of insulin in response to the entry of such a macronutrient into the blood. If the body does not immediately begin to use the resulting sugars, they become fat deposits. Experts advise eating such foods only before physical activity.

The right carbohydrates for weight loss

A good food for weight loss is rich in fiber and has a low GI: it takes a long time to break down. The right carbohydrates for weight loss can be easily identified by the absence of natural sweetness, i.e. fructose, sucrose, etc. there are no elements there. “Good” macroelements will be found in:

vegetables (especially cruciferous);
greenery;
cereals;
legumes

Please note that it is not enough to consume only complex carbohydrates when losing weight - they should be included only in breakfast and lunch, and in the evening and at night you should eat only proteins. If you really want light carbohydrate-containing food (milk and its “relatives” are here), you need to eat it in the morning. For snacks, sweets can be replaced with high-carbohydrate nuts - they are heavy because they contain a lot of fat, but they provide good nutrition, and a small portion (10 pieces) will not harm.

List of complex carbohydrates for weight loss

According to nutritionists, all high-carbohydrate foods that contain more than 2 molecules will not negatively affect your figure. However, to be more confident in a positive result from a diet or simple menu correction, you need to know the list of complex carbohydrates for weight loss. Food aimed at losing weight should contain:

fiber;
pectins;
glycogen;
starch (to a lesser extent).

You can see this list of carbohydrates in weight loss products - cereals, nuts, seeds, which contain fiber, apples and apricots, cabbage, cucumbers, cranberries - sources of pectin, buckwheat, rice, pasta, which contain starch. It is difficult to obtain glycogen from food because it contains minimum quantity(mainly in fish), but it is in excess and is not needed.

Carbohydrates are even more controversial in the fitness community than fats. They are an integral part of the diet and the main source of energy. 1 g of carbohydrates, like 1 g of proteins, contains 4 kcal, but the thermal effect is much lower - within 5-15% of the kcal is spent by the body on their processing. Carbohydrates vary in quality. By choosing the right sources, consuming them in the right quantities and at the right times, you can influence how you feel and how quickly you achieve your desired shape. And now answers to the most frequently asked questions about carbohydrates in nutrition.

What types of carbohydrates are there?

Simple(sweets, flour products, fruits, berries, in general, everything that contains sugar in one form or another). They are quickly absorbed, provide short-term energy, and the feeling of fullness does not last long.

Complex(anything that has a complex chain of sugars, but without a noticeable sweet taste, like whole grains, potatoes, oats, rice). They are absorbed for a long time and allow you to maintain a feeling of satiety for a long time. Fiber (this is dietary fiber, which contains whole grains, leafy vegetables and more, the peel of various vegetables and fruits). Gives a feeling of fullness, since fiber slows down the absorption of nutrients, has few calories, low GI.

Which carbohydrates should I eat and which should I not?

Depends on the goal. One way to assess how a carbohydrate will affect your body is, hereinafter referred to as GI. author Ekaterina Golovina Low GI foods will help people with poor sensitivity to carbohydrates and insulin to maintain stable sugar levels, prevent overproduction of stored insulin, which leads to a decrease in sugar levels, and as a result, physical and mental fatigue.

Why is it recommended to eat mostly complex carbohydrates on a diet?

Because whole grains and vegetables contain, which slows down the rate of absorption, gives a feeling of fullness, evens out sugar levels, and removes waste products from the body. , like vegetables and grains, also contains important microelements and vitamins.

What about fruits, are they ok on a diet?

One of the most frequently asked questions among those losing weight is about carbohydrates. Hmm, why not? Moderation is important, since fruits contain fructose and glucose, which are simple carbohydrates, but in addition to them, fruits contain vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

Can I use fructose instead of sugar?

No. Although it has a low GI, eating processed fructose can increase the rate of fat production in the liver. It is better to avoid processed fructose and products that contain it.

What about honey?

Honey is a simple carbohydrate consisting of half glucose and half fructose. It has almost the same calories as sugar. Moreover, from a nutritional point of view, all sugars are the same for the body. If you want honey, then there is a time and place for everything.

How many carbohydrates should you eat?

Depends on your goal and activity, but not less than 100 g/day, since this is necessary for normal brain function. You can calculate your carbohydrate intake using the articles: and.

Do carbohydrates make you fat?

But what about both from proteins and from fats? People get fat from excess calories, and with carbohydrates it’s easy to get this excess, especially if you eat sweets, flour products, sugar, etc. By the way, glucose is used not only for energy, but also to create glucosamine - a component connective tissue, but there is a clear limit here. The brain also feeds on glucose.

Is it true that to lose weight you need to reduce the amount of carbohydrates?

You need to cut down on calories. The proportion of carbohydrates in the diet will depend on the amount of excess fat, body characteristics, activity level, and health status. It is optimal when 50% of calories come from carbohydrates. The lowest carbohydrate level is considered to be 100 grams of carbohydrates. There are diets where carbohydrates are reduced to 50 g/day. (LCHF) and lower (ketogenic diet), but a different mechanism operates there.

When do you need a cheat meal?

Once a week or two (depending on the % of fat) during a calorie deficit. You can read how, when and what to do a cheat meal here. When limiting carbohydrates, it is wise to do not a cheat meal, but. With an adequate calorie deficit, you can safely do without cheat meals and add them carefully to your diet.

Is it possible to eat carbohydrates at night?

Certainly. It's normal to shift carbohydrate calories from breakfast into the evening. You can include them in your dinner if you lift heavy weights regularly, are active during the day and fit perfectly into your KBJU standards. It doesn't matter what time you eat carbs on your diet. It is important that you stay in a calorie deficit.

Why then do they say that carbohydrates are not allowed in the evening?

It depends on who. For example, if you are losing weight, you eat most of your carbohydrate calories during the active half of the day and in the evening you no longer fit into your norms. You can do without them if you have a high percentage of body fat. They are not needed in the absence of serious strength training and. Evening carbohydrates will be unnecessary if you have poor insulin sensitivity.

Why are fruits and potatoes not allowed on the diet?

Fruits and potatoes are limited on low-carb diets. Peeled boiled potatoes are a carbohydrate product; fruits contain sugar and are classified as simple carbohydrates. On low-carb diets, in order to fit into your BJU norm, you have to choose from less calorie and more fiber foods. But you don't have to cut carbs too much to lose weight. Eat a balanced diet, eat fruits and potatoes in moderation. There are no bad or good foods, so you don't have to paint everything black and white.

I'm on a low-carb diet, but the weight isn't coming off?

Do you think that if you eat few carbs and keep your sugar (and insulin) levels normal, you will lose weight? No, you won't if you're eating in a calorie surplus. There are many low-carb, but high-calorie foods that are very easy to overeat - cheese, peanuts, nuts, cream. 100 g of nuts contain approximately 600-650 kcal. Also, eating behavior and lack of physical activity should not be discounted.

For a bodybuilder, carbohydrate intake directly depends on the time of day. For example, in the morning most of the daily dose is consumed. The fact is that glycogen reserves in the liver are depleted overnight, which leads to a lack of energy. To provide itself with the proper level of energy, the body begins to extract it from muscle tissue. Thus, if you do not consume enough carbohydrates in the morning, you may experience muscle loss.

Before training, it is also common to take some “slow” carbohydrates. They will ensure a continuous supply of energy to the athlete’s body and make the workout more effective. After exercise, glycogen stores are again depleted, which promotes the release of catabolic hormones, the purpose of which is to break down muscles. That is why taking “fast” carbohydrates immediately after training can block catabolic hormones, and this plays a vital role in gaining muscle mass.

And now about the most important thing. Can I take carbohydrates before bed? If you have consumed enough of them during the day, then taking carbohydrates before bed will lead to an increase in subcutaneous fat. Experts note that you can consume carbohydrates no later than 4 hours before bedtime. This conclusion was confirmed by a group of scientists who undertook to study this problem. It turned out that body temperature and heart rate directly depend on carbohydrate intake. Those athletes who loaded themselves with carbohydrates 2-3 hours before bed slept much worse, since their body temperature was increased and their heart beat faster. Good sleep is accompanied by the opposite processes: low body temperature and low heart rate. In this sense, those athletes who refused to consume carbohydrates at night had an advantage, eating most of them at breakfast. Their sleep was much better, and subcutaneous fat did not accumulate overnight.

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Dinner is one of the main meals. After all, it provides the necessary energy after a hard day. It is not only nutrition for the body, but also a joy for a nervous system tired during the day. This is why many people are guilty of overeating for dinner. First they eat the main course, and then treat themselves to sweets, buns and other goodies. But in fact, in the evening our body does not need so much, and most importantly, it needs the right foods and their combination!

Protein dinner

Nutritionists around the world agree that dinner should be high in protein. That is, in the evening you need to eat meat, fish, cottage cheese, eggs. This is the main food. In addition, dinner should contain a sufficient amount of fiber. These are vegetables. Let a raw vegetable salad be a side dish. But carbohydrates: cereals, pasta, potatoes, bread cannot be eaten. Even if these are healthy complex carbohydrates, you should not eat them in the evening.

Why shouldn't you eat carbs for dinner?

I would like to say right away that anyone who wants to lose weight or maintain their slim figure should not eat carbohydrates for dinner. Children and people who are actively involved in sports can eat complex carbohydrates for dinner. But let's get back to losing weight.

We need it for the functioning of the body (breathing, heartbeat, the work of all organs, muscles, etc.), as well as, strictly speaking, for all our movements, including the work of the brain. When there is a lot of this energy, it is stored as a smell, and when there is not enough, the body draws it from reserves. So, in the evening we do not need to replenish this same energy in the form of carbohydrates. Otherwise, it may turn out that the surplus will be put aside in reserve. But you need to lose weight!

The benefits of a protein dinner

We need a protein dinner not only to avoid gaining weight. . At night, while we sleep, the body performs the most complex work: hair and nails grow, muscles are restored, skin is renewed, and complex reactions occur in the cells of all organs. For all this we need proteins, or rather amino acids produced from protein.

Why eat vegetables for dinner?

Vegetables contain vitamins, microelements, and most importantly, fiber. A lot has already been said, but I would like to reveal one more secret. Have you noticed that in the evenings, even after dinner and tea, you constantly crave something sweet? This is because you ate incorrectly during the day or have been in carbohydrate addiction for a long time. So, if in the evening there is a plate of raw vegetables on your table, which is twice the size and weight of the main dish, then the craving for sweets will not come! Vegetables contain coarse plant fiber, which is processed very slowly. It will prevent your blood sugar levels from jumping and certainly will not let you get hungry quickly.

Perfect dinner

Ideally, women need 100 g of meat or fish and 250 g or more vegetables for dinner. Men - 250 g of meat or fish and twice as many vegetables. If you eat cottage cheese, then eat as much as you want. If these are eggs, then 2-3 will be enough.

What not to eat for dinner

In addition to carbohydrates and all sorts of semi-finished and fast food products, you should not eat fruit for dinner. They have a lot of sugar. Of course, this is a natural sweetness, but still fruits can provoke an attack of hunger, when there is no need to eat, and cause fermentation in the intestines. You should not eat fruit after the afternoon snack.

Dinner time

You should have dinner no later than 4 hours before bedtime. So figure out for yourself when is the best time to eat. And if before bed you are overcome with terrible hunger, do not take bites, grabbing “something”. Boil yourself an egg and eat the white with peace of mind, leaving the yolk for the morning. You can drink a glass of kefir in small sips. But remember that kefir should not be drunk by those who have gastritis with high acidity.

Carbohydrates are considered the most dangerous elements of nutrition. Are they really that harmful and do they become particularly dangerous if consumed before bed?

From a management point of view healthy image life and proper nutrition, carbohydrates are considered to be the initiators of weight gain, especially if consumed before bed. The basic rule of nutrition is that carbohydrates should be consumed before sunset, which will help maintain a thin waist and prevent the formation of fat deposits in the midsection. Contrary to popular belief, carbohydrates are an important part of any diet, but does eating carbohydrates before bed actually cause an increase in your scale reading?

In most cases, the common fear of carbohydrates stems from misconceptions about them. Nate Miyaki, author of Intermittent Feast, believes that carbohydrates can be beneficial or harmful depending on the situation. “Carbohydrates help us recover from strenuous, anaerobic activity, but they also “help” us gain weight during periods of reduced activity. It all depends on the activity.” To put it simply, athletes who engage in high-intensity training use up glycogen stores and need to replenish those stores to achieve optimal performance. In other situations, the body has sufficient reserves of carbohydrates and, as a result, there is no need for additional carbohydrate intake. Miyaki compares consuming carbohydrates to refueling a car: “If the car is parked in a garage, it doesn’t need fuel. Eating too much sugar is like trying to fill a full tank. The fuel will simply overflow. In the human body, this “overflow” enters the bloodstream and helps create excess fat reserves.”

It is this energy balance that is potentially responsible for carbohydrate intake leading to overnight weight gain. But at the same time, nighttime revelry in this regard does not bring harm, because you continue to expend energy. The problem is that too many people overeat during the day, and at night these excesses replenish their fat stores. According to Miyaki, "Consuming too many calories and carbohydrates in general creates weight problems." In fact, only one study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that eating carbohydrates before bed helps you sleep better at night—important for those who have trouble sleeping. Instead of paying attention to the time of day, it is better to focus your attention on the total volume of carbohydrates consumed and bring it into line with age, weight, and body type.

Carbohydrates consumed in the evening do not become particularly harmful.

Consuming excess amounts of carbohydrates at any time of the day can lead to weight gain and unwanted changes in body proportions.