Late night eating is generally agreed upon by nutrition experts to form part of an unhealthy lifestyle, and sometimes it's even associated with mental health disorders. The first step to break the cycle is to understand why you're reaching for the fridge way past your bedtime.

A common cause for binge eating at night is boredom. In other cases, food is simply a pleasant accompaniment to the pre-bedtime veg-out session in front of the TV or laptop. In some people, physiological sensations resulting from hormonal imbalances, gastritis, or peptic ulcers may induce hunger or a desire to fill the stomach late at night. Mental health conditions such as stress or depression, and eating disorders, such as binge eating disorder, bulimia, and night eating syndrome (NES) may also lead to late night binging.

You Can Do These Things By Yourself

Once you have identified the problem, you must turn to the question of how to stop eating at night. Fortunately, in most cases, there are several approaches you can follow yourself to try and break the cycle.

1. Structure your day

Late night eating often results from the purposelessness many people feel in the wee hours when nobody is awake and there's nothing much to do. Poor sleeping habits also cause people to awake more frequently in the middle of the night, and at times like that, you might find yourself reaching for a snack. Sounds like you? Reducing late-night eating might be as simple as finding a daily routine and sticking to it. This includes times for breakfast, lunch, and dinner or better yet - a number of small meals every 3-4 hours, as well as predetermined bedtimes that ensure a solid 7-9 hours of sleep. When you are awake, try to make sure that leisure time is properly planned to avoid excessive eating.

2. Plan meals

Planning when you will eat and what you will eat are both important. It's a good idea to anticipate your tendency for finding high-calorie snacks by making them harder to access, or throwing out chips, cookies, and chocolate altogether. And cut fruits and prepare salads in advance so you can reach for healthier alternatives instead! What's more, you can also include more high-protein foods, which are not only a great way to keep your calorie count low but also fill your stomach and keep hunger at bay.

3. Find ways to have fun

How to stop late night eating? A surprising answer is to have fun and reduce stress. If you are a stress eater, look for healthier ways to manage your anxiety. Meditation, yoga, or aerobic exercise are all good for lowering stress. Even simple relaxation techniques like breathing exercises can keep cravings at bay. Try to tire yourself by playing sports with friends, or distract yourself using board games. If social activities are not an option, then consider reading, which is a less snack-friendly activity.

4. Brush your teeth

It might seem crazy, but brushing your teeth can help stop you from too much late night snacking. Most of us like the minty fresh feel after brushing. Eating fatty or strongly flavored snacks would ruin the taste and freshness, which might make you avoid unhealthy snacks more successfully.

Here Is the Professional Aid Part

How to stop eating at night if none of the above hacks help alleviate your craving for midnight snacks? You constantly wake up at night hungry despite all your efforts? You might need to see a doctor to diagnose the issue.

1. What is NES?

Night eating syndrome (NES) is particularly relevant. In NES, patients feel little or no hunger in the morning, and their appetite increases dramatically late in the evening. They tend to consume about 25% of their daily calories after their evening meal. Insomnia is common and several trips to the kitchen occur in between periods of sleep. NES can be diagnosed by your doctor and treated by attempting to correct the body's circadian rhythm.

2. Hormonal problems

Hormonal problems may also stimulate late night eating. Insulin, leptin, ghrelin, and peptide YY are the most important hormones dictating hunger. Plus, they are all interrelated. Conditions such as diabetes may upset the balance of these hormones and cause late night hunger pangs. These underlying issues must also be diagnosed and treated with the help of a health professional.

3. Psychological problems

Finally, psychological problems such as stress and depression may induce late night eating. Binge eating is often resolved after having successful treatment of the underlying mental health problem. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) are common choices for treatment of addictive or psychologically-based eating patterns.

Late-Night Eating Harms Your Health

• Since metabolism is low late at night, digestion of food consumed in this period may be ineffectual. Acid reflux may result from lying down soon after eating. Some researchers claim that low metabolism may also be the reason for more fat storage and accumulation of cholesterol.

• Blood sugar is increased by late-night eating, which can lead to a host of hormonal and physiological changes. Insulin levels, leptin, and ghrelin are disrupted, leading potentially to more hunger. It has been hypothesized that late-night high blood sugar to causes an elevation in inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein.

• Research indicates that cognitive function and memory are impaired by late night snacking, although its particular effect is unclear. More studies are needed to verify and understand the effects.

• Increased calorie intake is one of the consequences of late night eating. You might be sleepy during this period, or have a habit of subconscious eating in front of the television or while going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. This often results in consumption of more calories than you are aware of. Further, since late night is an unusual time to be eating, it significantly adds to the total number of calories consumed.

Take Home Message

Late night eating often has specific causes that can be addressed and successfully treated. If you are struggling to break the cycle of midnight snacking, know that you are not alone and that it's definitely possible for you to make changes towards leading a fulfilling and healthy lifestyle.