Carbs before bed, good or bad?

A common question I get about nutrition is, “Will carbs before bed make me fat?”

As always, it highly depends on the individual, but I will give you some guidance into making the best decision for you. First, we have to know a little about the energy releasing hormone cortisol. Yes, I meant that: Energy releasing. When you think of cortisol, you think of “stress hormone.” But really what cortisol is doing is mobilizing fuel for energy. In the case of cortisol, a “healthy” person should have higher levels of cortisol when they are waking, and they should continue to drop throughout the day until they are low in the evening.

This should be the case if you need to mobilize energy in day hours and need less energy in the evening, and need to be able to rest and digest (unless you are a shift worker and this might be different).

We can signal the release of cortisol with food (or lack of food. This is actually how you feel the affects of fasting). In the morning, we will get a spike in cortisol which will get us up and moving. As we get food into our body, the cortisol will start to drop progressively throughout the day. The macronutrient that has the most affect on the release of cortisol is carbohydrates. Knowing this, we can utilize carbohydrates in the evening lower cortisol levels so we can get better sleep. But not all carbohydrates are created equal. A starch rich sweet potato is going to have a very different digestion time and affect on blood sugar than a donut. The sweet potatoes complex structure of carbs will take a while to break down and slowly release into your blood as you sleep. The donut on the other hand, is made up of more simple sugars that enter the blood stream much more quickly and are absorbed much more quickly.

If you lay of carbs completely before bed, your cortisol will start to rise during sleep and you will be left staring at the ceiling because your energy mobilizing hormone just kicked on in the middle of the night.

My take? If you want to keep cortisol levels under control as you sleep, eat 1-2 cups of starchy carbohydrates (rice, potato, yams, yucca, quinoa) 2-3 hours before bed.

Remember, this is a complex issue, and their are many factors that can contribute to weight gain and sleeplessness. However, I would give it a try for a few weeks and see if adding some starchy carbs to dinner improves your sleep. What do you have to lose other than those dark circles below your eyes?

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3 Carb Myths That Are Preventing Weightloss

With ketogenic and low carb diets in vogue, carbohydrates have gotten the worst rap out of the three macros (proteins, fats, and carbs).  It’s not uncommon for someone’s first step in weight loss is to cut their carbs.  Sure enough, that person loses some weight and concludes that carbs were the problem all along.  Not so fast my friend (In my best Lee Corso voice). 

The weight loss is most likely due to calorie restriction (reducing carbs without adding in extra fat or protein leads to a decrease in caloric intake leading to weight loss) and dropping of water weight (decreasing carbs causes the body to lose fluids, in the short term at least, due to osmolarity).  Reducing carb consumption in the short term will lead to some weight loss, but because of natural biological processes, the weight loss will not continue at the same rate, and the weight you have shed will most likely come back. Why? If we debunk some common carbohydrate myths, you’ll see.

1. Carbs make you gain weight. Weight gain is not due to carbs themselves, but from over consumption of large portions of any type of food, especially those that are high in calories.  Usually, when someone overeats on carbs it’s not even the carbs alone, but the combination with carbs and FAT.  I can’t tell you the last time I have seen someone sitting around eating entire white potatoes dry.  But slap on some butter/sour cream or deep fry those bad boys, and you can eat them all day. 

The type of carbs someone takes in is also very important.  Sugar is a carb (think gummy bears) but so is a sweet potato.  The difference is one is made up of starch and fiber, and the other is a refined sugar.  Refined sugars are much easier to consume, which allows a person to over consume them more easily without getting full.  Complex carbohydrates (like whole grains, potatoes, and some legumes) are much more dense and have fiber (which makes you feel full) along with vitamins and minerals.  So no, carbs won’t make you gain weight magically.

2. Don’t Eat Fruit, It’s Got Too Much Sugar: Most of the time, I don’t have a problem eating most fruits, as long as there's some kind of portion control.  That being said, most fruits are almost impossible to over consume like apples, oranges, berries, and other high fiber fruits (tropical fruits are another story).  People run into trouble when they cut out the whole chewing and digesting steps and go right to juicing.  Juicing strips the fruit of the fiber and condenses the sugar from multiple portions.  For instance, it takes 36 oranges to make a gallon of orange juice.  That’s three oranges for an 8 oz. glass.  Imagine sitting down and eating three oranges, it would make you pretty full, right? Not only is an 8 oz. glass of orange juice not satiating, it spikes your insulin and causes you to crave more sugar.  Portions of fruit are fine, stay away from juicing.

3. You Shouldn’t Eat Carbs At Night: All carbohydrates are processed by your body the same way, no matter what time of day it is. There is no evidence to support that eating carbohydrates at night will promote unwanted weight gain. In fact, if you have issues with sleep, consuming complex carbohydrates with dinner two hours prior to bed can improve sleep for individuals.

I hope that clearing up some of the confusion allows you to utilize carbohydrates for what they are, a nutritional tool for better health.

Looking to lose some weight and don’t know where to start?  I’m here to help.  Click the link below to set up a free assessment and let’s move toward a healthier diet and lifestyle together.