6 THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER EAT OR DRINK AT NIGHT!

If you have been paying attention, you would have noticed that I’ve been hammering away about food for the past few weeks! Well today is no exception and I have a very good reason for this, food is important! Whatever your goal is ; weight loss, optimum health or building a muscular body, what you eat, how much you eat and when you eat it can make or break your program. Today I would like to talk about when to eat certain foods. Ordinarily the items on my list are very healthy and powerful foods that give you strength and help you grow and lose weight, but when eaten close to bed time they can become a hindrance to optimum health and fitness.

So if you want to avoid these nutritional pitfalls then read on, if you want to promote fat burning and lean muscle growth then you need to read on and stop the late night blunders that have been impeding your progress.

Thanks, and do have a great weekend!

MILK:

I know, I know! How in the world can milk be harmful, right? Well in certain circumstances milk should be avoided, and late night is one of them. While milk is a relatively healthy source of protein and calcium, the issue with milk is the lactose content which can give you digestive issues at night, and if you are lactose intolerant you should totally avoid it as bloating and gas will make your night very uncomfortable. Second, milk is high in lactose which is still sugar, and you should not be downing sugar just before sleep if you hope to lose fat or build muscle.

PASTA:

Another food to avoid at night is pasta, while it is a good source of quick energy and calories, it is better to consume pasta immediately after your workout earlier in the day and not as your last meal before bedtime. Pasta is calorie dense and is also a simple carbohydrate. This means it will break down pretty fast and turn to sugar in your blood stream, your body does not need this rise in blood sugar and the subsequent insulin spike at night. So while pasta is great before or after a workout, you should definitely avoid it at night if you hope to keep the pounds off!

CHOCOLATE:

Chocolate isn’t just very high in sugar and fat content, it is also high in caffeine! That’s right! If you are sensitive to caffeine then having a bar of your favourite chocolate before bed could rob you of a good night’s sleep. You wake up cranky and wonder why the hell you didn’t sleep well at night; well that’s your culprit. Eat chocolate frequently at night and you are likely to have an increase in the stress hormone cortisol and this will hamper your efforts to lose weight.

LARGE AMOUNTS OF MEAT:

This one I have been guilty of in the past, and I still battle this demon from time to time! Red meat is good, let’s get that straight! However, too much at the wrong time and you are asking for trouble. The logic is usually sound; you should eat more protein than carbohydrate at night right? Meat will not raise your blood sugar after all, and your body needs amino acids to repair all the damage you did to it during the day right? Well sort of, while you do need some protein, don’t go overboard and eat the whole cow. This will force your body into a lengthy digestion process that is likely to rob you of sound sleep just like the milk. So if you must eat protein at night try the chicken and fish in smaller, easier to digest quantities.

CHINESE FOOD:

Now who doesn’t love Chinese food? We all have had wonderful experiences at Chinese restaurants, even though some of the menu is definitely more Lebanese than Chinese, but that’s a topic for another day! The food is very delicious and laced with enough MSG to last you a lifetime! I will not go into the evils of MSG today (check my previous post on nasty food additives to avoid). Today I will give you another reason to avoid MSG, it acts on the body just like caffeine and can impede your ability to have a good night’s rest. Also Chinese food is usually dripping with fats and carbs the way our restaurants serve it. So if you want to remain lean, stay off the Chinese unless you get the real stuff in china!

FRUIT JUICE:

Last but not least for all you sweet toothed addicts out there, avoid fruit juice before bed time. Not only because the sugar in them is highly concentrated, but also due to the fact that they can be very acidic. Orange juice, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice, name it all. The body does not need this heart burn inducing acid before sleep. This added to the high sugar and zero fiber makes fruit juice a very unhealthy choice for late night snacking.

I hope you found this short list helpful, if you did then my day is made! For those who have been complaining about the lack of exercise tips, I promise to get round to that next week. Stay healthy and stay positive and do have a wonderful weekend!

IN MEMORY OF BUKOLA ADESANYA !!