One Reason You Can’t Stop Snacking at Night
If a nightcap of just one cookie is not enough, don’t worry; it’s not really your fault…well, at least it’s not any failure in willpower. Your brain just may not be processing the message to stop.
Travis Masterson, lead author of a recent study published in Brain Imaging and Behavior, found people simply are not getting the same buzz from their favorite snacks in the late-night hours. The result? In an attempt for your brain to feel satisfied, that one cookie leads to a second and a single chip may begat a handful.
During the study, the research team placed 15 healthy women in an fMRI and showed them pictures of lower-calorie foods like fruits and vegetables as well as more caloric foods like ice cream and fast food. The women were shown the photos in two shifts – once in the morning and again in the evening. The sessions were held one week apart and diets for the group remained consistent.
Brain activity spiked for all the images, but the brain consistently reacted more dramatically when it recognized the more caloric foods. However, they also discovered that those neural responses were lower in the evening session than the morning. Masterson explains, “You might over-consume at night because food is not as rewarding, at least visually, at that time of day… so you eat more to try to get satisfied.”
I LOVE when others recommend snack recipes that are ACTUALLY good. Far too often do I look up recipes for inspiration, try them out, and find out they are AWFUL. It’s like the person never even tried it themselves. Well, I assure you that every recipe on this site has been tried, tested, and approved by THIS family.
So, when one of our coaches recommended a Shakeology DESSERT recipe I was ALLLLLL over it! Two of my favorite things as a recipe?!?! But it gets better… there’s NO BAKING involved!! Now we are really talking. Hope you enjoy this sweet treat. The hardest part is resisting the temptation to have more than ONE!
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