Is nighttime eating cause of obesity or fat deposition?
-Eating and burning go hand in hand
-Eating simple sugars like donuts, pastries, and biscuits will increase your insulin resistance which eventually will make you fatter
-Not working out and living a sedentary life makes us fat
-Your body is smart and knows how to regulate its metabolism based on your habitual eating patterns.
-Your body only cares about how much you eat usually in 24 hours, a week, or a month, and regulates your weight accordingly.
Macronutrient Profiling with carbs gives around 1200 calories
-Complex carbs from whole wheat roti or bread (I rarely eat whole wheat bread)
-High-quality protein from salmon
-Veggies sautéed in the cold pressed coconut oil
-Extra virgin olive oil poured over this meal
I always have this meal around 7.30 to 8.30 pm due to my work schedule. I prefer to have carbs before 7 p, m. I avoid rice if I eat after 7 pm as I go to bed around 9,30 to 10:00 pm
Does eating carbs during the night make us fatter?
It’s a common myth that eating carbs after 3 or 4 pm will make us fatter.
Meaning is reset our Circadian rhythm the way we are born We came into this world with a particular rhythm and have to make sure we maintain that rhythm
It is always preferred to follow the sunrise-to-sunset rhythm.
The main factor is to give the rest to the insulin hormone. One who has insulin resistance need to follow the eating window with the low-carb diet so insulin will not have so much work to do.
Let us understand how the digestion of carbs happens in our body.
Let’s say we eat food normally high in carbs like Pizza, Pasta, Rice, whole wheat, or any sweet the moment we have a bite then there is an enzyme called “AMYLASE” which is secreted in the Saliva gland. This enzyme breaks the carbohydrates into 2 molecules called Amylose and Amylopectin
The process of breaking down the carbs into Amylose and Amylopectin starts in the Oral cavity and until the stomach, until the stomach acids are secreted, and the pH scale of the stomach goes down to less than 3. till that time salivary amylose is only the enzyme that digests the starch into a few smaller molecules so that it gets absorbed into the blood. Once it gets absorbed into the blood insulin is secreted and converts the glucose into energy in case the body needs that, if we do not need that then it converts into fat.
Once in the stomach, the activity of Salivary amylase is transferred to pancreatic amylase.
The enzyme secreted by the Pancreas to digest carbohydrates into 2 smaller molecules like Amylose and Amylopectin which get absorbed into the blood this is 30% of the digestive process remaining 70% of the digestive process is salivary amylase until it reaches the stomach. In that 70% of the digestive process when it breaks down into amylose and amylopectin then these molecules get absorbed into the blood and this stimulates insulin release and insulin converts this into fat.
How to address this issue?
We need to modify our diet to decrease the insulin response.
So, if we need to find a way to decrease the release of the carbohydrate molecules to be broken down then this will not get absorbed by the blood right away and there will be no insulin spike and there is no storage of fat.
The food that delays the release of these 2 molecules is called as Low Glycemic index
What we can eat along with our favorite carb?
Studies showed that when we mix carbs with lemon juice and fermented foods the glycemic index(GI) goes down significantly.
Example: Rice has a 100 glycemic index.
When we mix white rice with vinegar the glycemic index of 100 goes to 50.
Why it happens because it influences the salivary of amylose and it does not decrease the combined portion of rice and vinegar together, so the breakdown of amylose and amylopectin does not happen right away. So, there is no sharp rise in insulin which helps to accumulate body fat absorption.
Studies were done in the following ways.
1st group mixed bread with water
2nd group mixed bread with lemon
3rd group mixed bread with vinegar
4th group bread mixed with fermented foods.
All these 4 groups are mixed with salivary amylose, and scientists measured the glucose and insulin levels to see how this GI affects the glucose and insulin response.
Since 1st group did not have any mixture ingredients we called them Naked Carbs. Along with all these 4 groups the Naked Carbs group has the highest insulin spike and highest glucose response so higher fat accumulation.
Rest all groups have low GI despite the same carbs they have
A low GI means low degradation of smaller molecules less absorption and less insulin response.
Is the carb good or bad?
Carbs are always good for the body, but Naked carbs are bad. Naked carbs are contained in foods like pizza, pasta, soda, juices, and packed foods.
So naked carbs spike the insulin and digest the food so fast that we are prone to eat the same food again.
Naked Carbs
Studies have shown that if we mix carbs with some other acid like lemon juice which has citric acid, vinegar has acetic acid, fermented food has lactic acid. Whenever there are acids then that decrease the acid and glycemic index goes down. Which is good for us.
What is a low-carb diet?
A low-carb diet means 50 to 150 grams of carbs every day. If it is less than 150 then it is called mild and if less than 100 then called moderate and less than 50 it is called aggressive and in KETO we can go less than 20 grams.
A typical Indian diet contains 200 to 300 grams of carbs per day. So, when our diet is rich in carbs then we have to use the trick of decreasing the Glycemic index in addition to choosing the highly complex carbs which is rich in fiber which gives the same good result.
Use Organic Apple cider and mix approx. 20 ml of apple cider vinegar along with 250 ml of water and sip it during the day.
Another way is to add fermented food along with carbs. When we take fermented foods those are good for our gut health. It multiplies our good gut bacteria.
In Bengal, there is a trend of eating panta bhat (the cooked or leftover rice soaked with water overnight ), and the next day people eat it with lemon, onion, and green chili. This used to be a tasty meal in the morning and that used to give so much good guts bacteria which decreases the GI of other carbs and blunts the insulin response as well. Fermented rice is rich in microflora, which acts as a probiotic and improves the gut.
Conclusion: In this method, we are trying to reduce the quality of insulin while we are eating the sunrise-to sunset method we are already giving the rest of the insulin overnight. To expedite the process, we can decrease the insulin spike more by eating complex carbs or a low-carb diet. And while eating carbs we need to take 3 types of acid like citric. acetic and lactic acid.
Complex carbs
Reference links:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12792658/