Late-night snacks linked to certain cancers? Don’t eat when you’re hungry before bed!

As staying up late gradually becomes a lifestyle habit for modern people, late-night snacks have also become a must-have activity for many people at night. Whether it is crayfish in summer or hot pot in winter, they are all popular among the public. Not only can people enjoy delicious food at night, but they can also socialize. Late-night snacks are gradually becoming people's fourth meal. However, behind the late-night snacks, there are hidden dangerous factors that endanger human health.

Experts suggest that the three meals a day should be in accordance with the rules of digestive glands secreting digestive juices and follow a reasonable ratio of energy and protein intake. Some people who need to work night shifts or overtime have to rely on midnight snacks to replenish energy at night, so they should pay attention to a balanced diet. An unbalanced three meals and relying entirely on a midnight snack to eat and drink a lot is likely to raise a red light on your health.

Late-night snacks are associated with certain cancers. A joint study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Utrecht University in the Netherlands found that women who eat at 10pm-12pm, 0am-2am, and 2am-4pm have an 80%, 120%, and 90% increased risk of breast cancer, respectively. Women who eat at night (eat after 10pm at least once a week) for 20 years or more have a 128% increased risk of breast cancer. This set of data undoubtedly reflects the risk of cancer caused by late-night snacks. As for the reasons behind this, scientists believe that eating late at night may affect the secretion of insulin, melatonin, and cortisol hormones, resulting in metabolic problems that are highly correlated with breast cancer. It is particularly worth noting that people's favorite barbecue snacks may also contain benzopyrene carcinogens, and frequent consumption will increase the risk of cancer.

Second, when people eat supper, they usually consume a lot of high-protein foods such as meat, eggs, and milk, which cannot be consumed and increase the burden on the stomach. Excessive intake of food at night or eating too much greasy food can cause stomach pain and bloating, and it is easy to get stomach problems in the long run.

Third, since the body's cholesterol synthesis is mainly completed at night , frequent late-night snacks will cause the liver to synthesize significantly more blood cholesterol , disrupting the body's normal metabolism . Long-term overeating at night will repeatedly stimulate the pancreas and increase insulin secretion. Over time, it will lead to abnormal blood sugar and blood lipids. If you don't control your late-night snacks, it is easy to cause excessive blood lipids.

Fourth, many people usually go to bed right after having a midnight snack. With little exercise (no exercise), the calories in the food are stored in the body and cannot be consumed in time. Over time, it is easy to gain weight and may also cause fat to deposit on the walls of arteries, which invisibly increases the probability of high blood pressure and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Fifth, overeating at night can cause the stomach to swell and compress surrounding organs. The intense work of the stomach, intestines, liver, gallbladder, pancreas and other organs after a meal will send information to the brain, causing brain activity and spreading to other parts of the cerebral cortex, inducing insomnia. This will in turn affect a person's mental state the next day, and over time, it will lead to depression.

Sixth, the peak period of calcium excretion is usually 4 to 5 hours after a meal. If you eat too late at night, when the peak period of calcium excretion arrives, you have already gone to bed and the urine will be retained in the ureters, bladder, urethra and other urinary tracts, and cannot be excreted from the body in time, causing the calcium in the urine to continue to increase, which is easily deposited to form small crystals, which gradually expand over time to form stones.

Seventh, the food safety of late-night snacks deserves attention. Late-night snack places such as food stalls and roadside stalls are mostly located on the roadside or in public spaces. There may be safety hazards in the health of practitioners, tableware disinfection, site hygiene, food safety and other aspects. Especially in summer, if food is not stored properly, it may deteriorate and be contaminated by pathogens, which can easily lead to acute gastroenteritis or food poisoning.

There are many harmful effects of eating midnight snacks, but if you really need to eat when you are hungry, you should pay attention to dietary balance and follow three principles. First, try to avoid eating midnight snacks 2 to 3 hours before going to bed, and it is best not to eat midnight snacks after 9 pm. In addition, when choosing midnight snacks, you should not blindly choose "heavy-tasting" foods, such as fat, high-oil, and highly irritating foods that easily produce gas, such as barbecue, spicy crayfish, potatoes, onions, etc. When eating midnight snacks, try to have a variety of varieties and light and small amounts.

Porridge, noodles, egg fermented glutinous rice, seafood, etc. are good choices. Try not to eat watermelon and other fruits with high water content and high sugar content at night. In short, the food for midnight snacks should meet health requirements. Night shift workers who need to consume enough energy can choose whole wheat bread, oatmeal, bananas, almonds, milk, honey, etc. Among them, bananas and almonds are rich in magnesium, which can relax muscles and help sleep; milk is rich in tryptophan, which also has a certain sleep-inducing effect. Finally, the most important thing is not to drink late at night.

Eating midnight snacks is indeed a very common behavior nowadays, but there are indeed many health risks behind it. Choose healthy and easy-to-digest food, eat at a reasonable time, and develop good living habits by eating healthy midnight snacks and eating less midnight snacks.