You've eaten dinner, you're comfortably full, and yet half an hour later you're raiding the kitchen cupboards. Research suggests about a third of people, external are snacking every night after their evening meal - for those aged 18-24, four in five are unable to resist. Dietitian Dr Kristine Beaulieu says this spells trouble.
She points to evidence showing that the more people eat, external within two hours of going to bed, the "greater the odds" of weight gain and obesity. So, why are evening cravings so common? And what can you do to keep them in check?
Despite the fact we spend longer going without food when we are sleeping, research suggests our appetite naturally peaks in the evening, almost regardless of how much we have eaten earlier in the day. Prof James Betts, who researches how the body handles food and energy at the University of Bath, says a big factor is that our "hunger hormone" ghrelin is generally higher later in the day. "While it tends to be suppressed by meals, that really only happens after the first meal of the day, not after lunch or dinner." But what you eat also matters.
Meals rich in protein, fibre and volume tend to keep us satisfied for longer. Betts says not having a nutritious or satiating evening meal can lead to a "crash" later, which sees people snack. For others, the fear of waking up hungry during the night is also a motivating factor, while habit plays a role too.
"If snacking often happens in the same setting, the surrounding cues can start to trigger cravings," says Prof Suzanne Higgs, an expert in appetite at the University of Birmingham. "For example, if someone usually snacks while watching TV, simply turning the TV on may make them feel like eating." It's not just feelings of hunger that increase later in the day. Research suggests our appetite for calorie-dense foods also becomes stronger, driven by the brain's reward system rather than a genuine need for energy.
"Our liking and wanting for high-fat foods are greater later in the day compared to low-fat foods," says Beaulieu, who splits her time between the University of Leeds and University of Moncton in Canada. "That hedonic drive can override signals of fullness, making us want to snack or eat a dessert even though we're full." Even after a substantial evening meal, foods rich in sugar, fat or salt can continue to activate reward pathways in the brain, helping explain why many people find themselves reaching for something more. So when you find yourself standing in front of the biscuit tin at 9pm, it may not be a lack of willpower.
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