Eating carbs in the evening, well yes. Tip of the week 19

Eating carbs in the evening. Well yes, nothing wrong. Provided you don't eat too many of them as you do during the day! By now we know that carbohydrates are our source of energy. Carbohydrates provide us with energy to function, to move.

Especially in the morning during a healthy, hearty breakfast are the good carbs more than welcome.

In the evening, our bodies need fewer carbohydrates than during the day because that is when our bodies are actually preparing for the night when we (normally) sleep.

When we are less active, the digestive system also works more slowly. Everything is adjusted to the body's activity.

You can therefore imagine that the carbohydrates we ingest in the (late!) evening hours will be digested more slowly, making them more likely to be stored by the body as reserves (> fat !). Yet this turns out to be not so bad.

Eating carbs in the evening is fine

As long as you haven't yet gone over your daily requirement in terms of calories, it's fine to eat something that contains the right carbohydrates. The next day, your body will simply use this form of energy again.

Of course you are not taking the wrong carbs! Those are never a must, neither during the day nor in the evening.

What we do recommend as an evening snack is: low-fat protein foods like a bowl of Greek fat-free yoghurt or low-fat cottage cheese, for example.

A large cup of warm skimmed or semi-skimmed milk before bed is also delicious and has an immediate calming effect.

Proteins are much less likely to be converted into fat anyway, because they are primarily the building blocks for muscles and develop further when you are resting. If you consume the right foods during the day, your body will continue developing and building muscle and burning calories during sleep at night.

So whether you choose carbs or protein in the evening: it's either way.

This week you may also weigh yourself! Click >HERE for handy weighing and measuring tips.

The above text previously appeared in the Balance book. The book is now sold out, but may still be available to order second-hand via the link below.

The Balance Book

Slimming blog >HOME