Skipping dinner does not help you lose weight as you think

You may find yourself thin in the first few days of fasting, but the weight will increase very quickly when you eat back and gain more than you originally started.

Fasting is not a safe and effective way to lose weight.

One of the weight loss advice you often hear is "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper". This means that at the end of the day, you should eat less. Some people even skip dinner to increase the effectiveness of weight loss.

Creating a calorie deficit is an important rule for weight loss, but skipping meals is not the right thing to do. Lovneet Batra, an Indian dietitian, explains that skipping dinner can help you lose weight in the short term, but not in the long term. If you skip dinner and stay up late, you will be extremely hungry. Then you will be more inclined to eat unhealthy foods. This will make you gain weight instead of losing it. Plus, you're more likely to overeat the next day.

When you have to fight often with hunger, you can experience many other health and mental problems as below.

1. Causing appetite, gaining weight fast

The consequence of skipping any meal during the day is to make you crave more and tend to eat unhealthy foods. When you eat out of control because of hunger, you will gain weight faster. Skipping meals also slows down the metabolism, causing the body to store more fat to store energy.

Skipping meals makes you crave snacks, foods containing a lot of sugar and starch because the body lacks energy.

Nutritionist and weight loss consultant Amanda Nighbert says many people skip dinner but eat other snacks instead. These dishes are often low in fiber, protein, and contain a lot of sugar and starch. This food does not make you full for long, increasing appetite.

The first few days of fasting, you see a noticeable weight loss due to the body not being able to absorb enough energy and nutrients. However, when you eat enough meals again, fat in the body will accumulate quickly, causing you to gain weight, and even gain more than before.

2. Hypoglycemia

Skipping dinner causes blood sugar levels to drop, causing the body to lack energy. You may experience symptoms such as tremors, heart palpitations, dizziness or even shortness of breath. Low blood sugar also makes you irritable and tired. At that time, the body increases production of cortisol, the hormone that makes you gain weight quickly.

3. Causing insomnia

Skipping dinner has a huge impact on sleep quality. The time from lunch the day before to breakfast the next morning is too long. Without energy, the body will not be able to function smoothly. Hunger will make you stressed, which in the long run leads to the risk of depression. Increased stress hormones make it difficult to sleep, not sleep deeply, make you tired, sluggish the next morning.

4. Causes digestive disorders

Eating in moderation, not eating right meals seriously affects the digestive system. By the time you should have dinner, acid secretion in the stomach will still take place, but the empty stomach causes the stomach lining to be irritated and stretched, leading to stomach pain. Excess stomach acid negatively affects digestive function and can cause many other serious intestinal diseases.

How dinner helps lose weight

The rule of weight loss is that dinner should be finished 3 hours before bedtime. The best time for dinner is around 18:00-19:00. Do not eat dinner after 9pm because the body will not have enough time to digest all the food. Eating dinner too late is also not good for health because it can cause blood sugar to rise at night.

At dinner, you should choose low-calorie, high-fiber and protein-rich dishes to keep you full for a long time, reducing cravings. Limit processed foods and foods high in sugar because they do not stimulate the satiety center in the brain, making you more inclined to eat more. Recommended dishes at dinner are whole grains, eggs, fish, lean meat, dark green vegetables, fresh fruits...