Does the Time You Eat Matter?

(Kelly Silverman) #1

Hey Family,

I’ve searched for some videos and I can’t find one that specifically speaks to this issue (if you know of one, feel free to point me to it!)

But does the time that you eat matter?

For years I’ve heard don’t eat after 6pm (but we all know that doctors say a lot of things that aren’t true smh)

I get off of work at 5pm…takes me an hour to get home…my dinner is ready by 7:30pm. Also if I go to the gym, I probably wont eat until 8:30!

All opinions, experiences and data are welcome! :smiley:

Edited for a few typos I saw

(Doug) #2

From the standpoint of insulin secretion over time, for many of us it does make a difference. The study I saw, with the same nutrient mix and caloric content, had a general greater and longer insulin response to eating later in the day versus earlier, i.e. the ‘area under the curve’ was as much as twice as large for the later-in-the-day crowd.

(Susan) #3

There have been studies suggesting we should have the biggest meal at lunch, then a smaller supper. I found a site supporting this but their diet plan is not Keto, so I don’t want to link it here!

I need to try and do this myself, I tend to try for TMAD but it often ends up being OMAD then I am only having like 600 or so calories, so that is no good. I just cannot eat enough at one meal to make OMAD good for me.

I think that eating the most calories at that time, and then less at supper, and nothing from like supper until the next day – 16, 18 or 20 hours later (depending on what you want) is good. As long as you don’t eat at least 3 hours before you sleep.

It is to give your body time to digest the food you eat, so you don’t lay down to sleep before it has done this.

(Kelly Silverman) #4

Thank you for that Susan, and that makes a lot of sense! Eat smaller in the evening. In fact, now that I’m thinking about it…I should probably just opt for vegetables when I’m eating THAT late.

Salad and some boiled eggs perhaps? Yeah I think I’ll try that so I won’t feel so bad about eating so late.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #5

I think if you have relatively normal insulin function, it doesn’t matter. If you don’t, maybe it does. @OldDoug @Momof5: citations to support your statements?

Frequently, I’m scheduled for a late shift which gets me home around mid-night. If for one reason or another I’ve missed my daily calorie target by a couple hundred or more, I will eat something, usually whipping cream and casein and/or bone broth. I’m less concerned about insulin than losing weight, which I will do if I fail to hit my daily calories more than 3-4 days in a row. If my insulin is slightly elevated overnight, I haven’t noticed anything about it.

(Susan) #6

This has nothing to do with Keto, just about eating before bed. The first comment about Lunch being the biggest meal I didn’t want to link because all the foods were not Keto…I was referring more to meals.

This article says why it is especially good for women over 40 to eat their biggest meal at lunch (NOT a Keto article) The reason I didn’t put the link to begin with is their diet is SAD carbage diet, it was only the principal of the time line I was looking at, not the diet the article says.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #7

Thank you @Momof5

Eating late does not seem to interfere with my sleep. Then again, my late night meals are usually around 3-400 calories at most. Missing my daily target by a hundred calories doesn’t much matter. The claim that eating interrupts sleep reminds me of all the people who eat their big meal at mid-day and then fall asleep afterwards. The so-called ‘afternoon slump’ at the office. Of course, alcohol at lunch could be a factor. :upside_down_face:

(Susan) #8

I think for a lot of business lunches it could be for sure, especially when they are wining and dining clients in restaurants.

I am thinking that for our forum members, who often take their lunches with them to work, that this would not be such a problem =-).

(Kelly Silverman) #9

Thank you for all your responses Susan…you’re always so helpful!:smiley_cat:

(Susan) #10

You are welcome =). You helped me telling me about the enzymes, I ordered them right away and have been taking them since! This forum is fabulous, for everyone sharing all their experiences and journeys. I love it =).

(Kelly Silverman) #11

I agree! :heart::heart::heart:

(Bob M) #12

I actually think it’s carbs. I used to get tired in the afternoon all the time, when I was high carb. Now, only if I don’t get enough sleep.

(Susan) #13

Same with me, Bob! Now my problem is I am only sleeping about 5-6 hours a night, instead of 8 I think would be better for me. Not that that is all down to Keto, my hubby snores grr, haha.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #14

There’s so much individual variation that it’s hard to provide general advice. I have seen advice that there should be at least four hours between the last food of the day and bedtime, partly because of insulin, and partly because of sleep disturbances. (But of course, disturbed sleep itself increases insulin, because it is a stressor.)

Many people report a reduced need for sleep on a ketogenic diet, so I guess we need to figure out some way to determine whether we are sleeping less because we need less, or because our sleep is disordered. In this connection, I’m not sure even the experts have it figured out yet. It is true that a ketogenic diet changes a lot of the “rules” about what’s good and bad for us, so we should probably not worry too much, just do our best and be open to new information as it comes.

For myself, I suspect that sleep is like satiety, in that we shouldn’t sleep to a target, but should rather sleep as much as we need in order to feel rested and energetic upon waking. Whether that’s five hours or ten hours, let the body decide. Not only that, but perhaps the required amount of sleep may vary from night to night, just as some days we are hungrier and some days we don’t want as much food.

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #15

This is how I think of it as well. Some days, 4 hrs. sleep is all I need others, don’t talk to me if I haven’t had 8 hrs. It is always in a flux it seems. I just sleep when I feel I need to and don’t when I don’t feel like I need it. Kinda like how I eat most days :slight_smile:

(Jeanne Wagner) #16

For me it does really matter. I had tried to stick to the not eating past 6 pm but was almost impossible because I don’t get home from work until 5:30 pm at the earliest. Then I heard Dr. Fung mention about trying to not eat past 2pm. I thought I’d give it a go. It is a great strategy for me. I sleep better and my blood glucose readings in the morning dropped a good 20 pts. The longer you go without food when doing IF, say 16:8, the better it is for your insulin regulation. Now lately I have been eating late and I can’t sleep very well and those morning blood glucose readings shot way up. So, back to fasting more, and actually a lot more.

I’m sick of the see-saw, so right now I’m kicking my body in the butt and fasting for an extended period. My morning blood readings have been in the 70s-80s and I’m loving it.

(Bob M) #17

Jeanne’s response (about eating earlier) has some studies behind it. But I can’t do this. It doesn’t fit into my lifestyle. I often pick up the kids late and we’re eating well after 5, often near 8pm.

On the other hand, even with eating late a lot, I’m still losing weight and gaining muscle. And I find it difficult (unless I know I’m fasting) to go to bed hungry. For instance, I ate blunch one day, then had to take my mother to the hospital. I ended up there until almost midnight. I then went home and was going to go to bed. But I was hungry. So I ate. Then immediately went to bed. I wasn’t hungry, though.

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #18

I tried to do the protocol by Dr. Panda, but it made no difference in anything, except it was awful for socializing with my husband and friends. As long as I am eating 3-4 hrs. earlier than going to bed, I see no adverse effects. Unless I am traveling in Europe, I have always pretty much done that. Even eating later in Europe didn’t cause issues because I walked so much more when there and eat a lot of rabbit and foie gras as well, very keto before I was keto.

(Kelly Silverman) #19

Thank you for mentioning that because I was wondering about that as well @ high BG in the am (higer than usual outside of the damn effect).

I was thinking that my BG was higher from eating so late, and I do recall Dr Boz mentioning eating late can result in higher BG in the AM (on top of the regular cortisol spike) because that sugar didn’t burn off during the night!

So in theory, eating late can result in slower fat burning in the morning…sounds like I just answered my own question LOL

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #20

Try eating about 10 grams of whole, raw ginger root an hour before bed. I am currently experimenting with it and others have reported that it increases metabolic rate.