There is a lot of wellness information out there – some of them fact and others, fiction!

Today, I’ll give you my take on some wellness advice.

Advice 1: Eating fruit/food at night makes you fat.

Verdict: Fiction. Let me explain, because this is a very popular one.

Every fruit has the same fruit has the same number of calories, whether you eat it in the morning or at midnight.

As I have told you often, weight gain or loss ultimately comes down to an equation:

If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight.

If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight.

The real issue with eating late at night is how and what people eat. Late-night eating is often calorie-dense snacking, done mindlessly, usually in front of the TV, when the day is already over and there’s no opportunity to burn those calories through activity.

Remember also the fact that ‘inhaling’ your food (that’s my way of saying, eating your food too fast), means that you don’t give your stomach the opportunity to receive the information from the brain that says, ‘Hey! Stop! You are full’ and so one may rapidly transit from starving to stuffed! If someone already ended the day close to (or above) their calorie needs, that extra intake simply adds to the surplus.

However, if you have eaten less than you burned during the day, and what you eat at night is light and low-calorie, you will not gain weight simply because of the time.

There’s also the body’s day-night (circadian) rhythm to consider. This is your body’s natural 24-hour internal clock that tells it when to sleep, wake up, digest food, and use energy best. Using this rhythm, the body’s sensitivity to insulin (the hormone that ensures the glucose in the food you eat is taken into the cells where it is used for energy) and metabolism (breakdown of food in the body into energy) are slightly more efficient during the day than at night. Having said that, the difference is not large enough on its own to cause weight gain.

Some people also experience bloating or discomfort when they eat certain fruits late at night, but that’s a digestion issue, not fat gain.

Bottom line:

So, if eating at night makes you consistently exceed your calorie needs/quota, then you should rethink it. But the weight gain that happens is driven by overall calorie balance and habits not due to the time

Advice 2: Unripe plantain cures diabetes.

Verdict: Fiction

Unripe plantain has a lower glycaemic index and more fibre and therefore helps with better sugar control. Remember that foods with fibre absorb water in your stomach and therefore make you feel fuller for longer. For more on glycaemic index, click the link here: https://chatwithdrketch.com/…/daily-health-tips-is-it…/

So, unripe plantain is a good meal for diabetics, but it is not a cure. Remember that for diabetics (type 2), they should focus on diet and exercise. And of course, everything their doctor and nutritionist say. For more on that, click on this link here.: https://chatwithdrketch.com/…/daily-health-tips-world…/

I hope you had a great day