Regular and binge eating at night, consuming a large portion of total daily calories, is not a bad habit, it is a medically defined eating disorder. We have brought together some of the prominent symptoms of Night Eating Syndrome for you.
What is Night Eating Syndrome?
Night Eating Syndrome (NES) is an eating disorder. Affected people consume most of their daily calories in the evening and especially at night. Those affected by this syndrome eat little or no food in the first half of the day. Although many patients eat three meals a day, they consume at least a quarter of their total daily calories after dinner. By definition, this happens late in the evening and at night. It is not surprising that this significantly worsens sleep rhythm, sleep duration and sleep quality. Other symptoms are also typical, such as depression, irritability, stress, and loss of appetite.
Incidentally, the syndrome was first described in 1955 by AJ Stunkard, WJ Grace, and HG Wolff. The key features of the first scientific description were morning anorexia and nocturnal hyperphagia. For a long time, almost no research was done on night eating syndrome. But in the 1990s, with the advent of the global “obesity epidemic”, researchers focused more on this topic.
Night Eating Syndrome is even more common in people with depression. About 21 to 35 percent of them suffer from an eating disorder.
3 Symptoms of Night Eating Syndrome
1. Overeating at night
NES patients consume at least 25 percent of their daily calories after dinner. Researchers talk about nocturnal hyperphagia. Binge eating is either chronic in nature and occurs in people with night eating syndrome even when they are not very hungry, or it is hormonal. If the secretion of melatonin is disrupted and as a result, the sleep-wake cycle becomes unbalanced, night hunger may occur. Irregularity of the hormone ghrelin, which controls our feelings of hunger and satiety, may also be present in NES patients and may trigger nighttime hunger pains.
2. Sleep disorders
People with NES often eat several times during the night. The short sleep phases alternate with the waking phases in which carbohydrate-rich foods are usually consumed for a short time. As sleep is constantly interrupted, overall sleep duration and sleep quality decrease. This leads to irritability, daytime fatigue and exhaustion in those affected. Because digestion works at full speed after eating at night, it is often more difficult for those affected to fall asleep. Because when blood sugar rises and the body is given energy from carbohydrates, the sleep hormone is no longer secreted. Eating at night is a signal for the body to be active.
3. Morning anorexia
A person who eats most of his daily calories at night naturally does not have an appetite in the morning. In fact, morning loss of appetite is the result of less pre-occurring food intake. Night Eating Syndrome is an eating disorder that can cause morning anorexia. Those affected are afraid of getting fat or getting fat. They consciously and necessarily avoid eating in the morning. The psychological pressure and mental anguish are often overwhelming for those affected. NES patients can only take food in the second half of the day, while some patients may have binge eating at night.
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