Should You Avoid Carbs After 6pm?
This myth has been around for years, with the majority of dieters trying this theory out at some stage of their dieting career only to discover that in the long run either it makes no difference and/or sticking to it is impractical and unsociable.
The good news, if you like your pasta, is that there is no evidence to hold up the theory that just because you consume carbohydrates after 6pm, you are more likely to store away fat than at any other time of the day. The rate of digestion in your intestines is just the same at night as it is in the early hours of the day, so it makes no difference when you decide to eat your carbohydrates.
Leading US dietician Eileen Coleman suggests that it is the over-consumption of food late in the day, not the type of food you eat, that contributes to weight-gain. Despite this fact, one thing to bear in mind is that due to the hectic lifestyles we all lead, cutting out carbohydrates in the evening may be one tactic to employ as a means of cutting back on calories. Although research has proved that it is not specifically carbohydrates that contribute to weight gain, eating fewer starchy foods in the evening may be the easiest way to reduce overall calorie consumption – the fact that it is the carbohydrates being ditched is inconsequential.
Provided you don’t miss out carbohydrates from your diet altogether, if you find it easy to avoid carbohydrate-rich foods in the evening, even if it’s just 3 or 4 days a week, then it may be a weight loss tactic for you.