Symptom 7: Weight Gain
While it’s tempting to dismiss NES’s weight implications as mere overindulgence, there’s more beneath the surface. Nighttime consumption often consists of calorie-dense foods. These additional calories, ingested outside the body’s typical metabolic peak times, can lead to a cumulative caloric surplus. Over time, even seemingly insignificant nightly caloric excesses can contribute significantly to weight gain.
Our bodies aren’t just passive vessels storing whatever we eat. Instead, our metabolic processes are tightly regulated by the circadian rhythm. With NES, as one’s eating patterns skew towards the night, it often means consuming food when the body is least equipped metabolically. As a result, food consumed late at night may not be processed as efficiently, leading to increased fat storage.
Daytime fatigue, stemming from interrupted sleep patterns and nighttime wakefulness, can impact daily activities. Individuals might find themselves too tired to engage in regular exercise or even everyday activities that burn calories. This reduction in daily caloric expenditure, paired with the increase in nighttime consumption, accelerates weight gain.
The veil of the night often provides a refuge for those escaping emotional turmoil. For individuals with NES, emotional eating can be a significant contributor to their nighttime forays into the kitchen. Using food as a coping mechanism can not only increase the volume of food consumed but also gravitate individuals towards comfort foods—often sugary and fatty.
Weight gain in NES is a multi-faceted issue, tied intricately to both physiological and emotional factors. To address this symptom effectively, it’s crucial to understand and tackle both these aspects, ensuring a holistic approach to management. (7)
