Staying up late for a week and gaining 2 kg, I’m so disgusted! 2 secrets for night owls to eat late night snacks without gaining weight

The FIFA World Cup in Russia has begun. Muscular men from all over the world are fighting hard for points on the field. Fans are enthusiastically supporting them off the field and in front of the broadcast screens. However, many people stay up late to watch the game while eating a lot of high-calorie foods such as beer, fried chicken, and hamburgers. As a result, they gained 2 kilograms in less than a week. They couldn't help but ask nutritionists for help: "Is there any snack that won't make you fat if you stay up late?"

Modern people have a wonderful nightlife. In addition to watching football games, many people also chase TV series, play video games, sing in KTV or dance in nightclubs. Of course, there is also a group of people who are not greedy for pleasure, but have to stay up late because of work and schoolwork. However, whether you are a hedonistic night owl or a miserable night owl, staying up late is inevitable with midnight snacks. But be careful not to choose the wrong kind of midnight snacks, which may lead to obesity.

Staying up late will make you fat, and eating midnight snacks will also make you fat! 2 big demons join forces, be careful of the multiplication effect

Nutritionist Zhao Hanying said that, in fact, staying up late itself can make people fat! The liver is an important digestive and detoxification organ in the human body. It can secrete enzymes to help break down and metabolize food, and it can also secrete growth hormone to help control weight, but these tasks are mainly performed while we sleep. If you stay up late and lack sleep, not only will your liver not function properly, it will also be damaged, leading to a decrease in metabolism and a large amount of fat accumulation, making it difficult to not gain weight.

In addition, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine has also published a study that mentioned that if you sleep less than 5 hours a day, the body's secretion of ghrelin will increase and leptin will decrease, making it easy for people to want to eat due to hunger. The scary thing is that late-night snacks themselves are also a fattening factor. When staying up late and late-night snacks work together, it makes people even fatter!

What should I do if I can’t give up late-night snacks but am afraid of getting fat?

If you stay up late and cannot completely avoid midnight snacks, what can you do to lose a little weight? Among the wide variety of midnight snacks, nutritionist Zhao Hanying emphasized: "Drinking alcohol is absolutely not helpful for weight loss!" The nutrients contained in alcohol are minimal, but it is a high-calorie food second only to fat, and it easily causes fat storage. Every gram of alcohol contains 7 calories. If we calculate based on the alcohol concentration of beer being 5%, gulping down a 350ml bottle of beer is equivalent to drinking 17.5 grams of alcohol and 122.5 calories, which is close to the calories of half a bowl of rice. More importantly, drinking alcohol can damage your liver.

Tip 1: Use plain or sparkling water instead of beer and cola

The first step to defeat midnight snack obesity is to say "NO" to alcoholic beverages! However, some people feel weird watching football games without alcohol to cheer them up. What should they do? Then find a compromise! For every small can of beer, a small glass (about 30c.c.) of liquor such as whiskey, or half a glass (about 150c.c.) of red wine, pair it with a 250c.c. glass of boiled water or sparkling water. Water has zero calories and can increase satiety, which can prevent obesity caused by excessive alcohol intake.

In addition, some people do not drink alcohol, but prefer carbonated drinks such as cola and soda that have high sugar content. At this time, it is also recommended to replace it with zero-calorie boiled water. Those who prefer a stimulating taste can use sparkling water instead to help reduce calorie intake.

Tip 2: Choose the right kind of midnight snack

The second step to defeating midnight snack obesity is to be “picky about food”! Taiwan's fried chicken is world-famous for its deliciousness and is almost the first choice for Chinese people's midnight snack. However, the recommended daily intake of cooking oil for an average person is about 15 grams. Once fried, each serving of fried chicken contains 10 to 20 grams more oil than the original ingredients. This invisibly causes excessive fat intake, which not only easily leads to obesity, but also prevents the stomach and intestines from breaking down protein properly, leading to indigestion.

In this regard, nutritionist Zhao Hanying provides a 3-stage improvement plan:

Getting Started: It’s still fried food, but no matter whether it’s fried chicken, fried chicken fillet or fried squid, as long as the ingredients themselves are animal protein, the portion is halved and replaced with vegetables with lower calories, such as broccoli, green beans, mushrooms or corn shoots.

Advanced solution: Forget fried food and use braised or grilled food instead. Grilling can force out the fat from the ingredients and reduce the amount of oil, but you should be careful to use less sauce to avoid making the food fatter. Braised food has lower calories than grilled and fried food, making it a more suitable late-night snack for those who eat out. However, when purchasing, don’t forget to choose high-fiber, low-calorie braised vegetables, such as king oyster mushrooms, cauliflower, corn shoots, cabbage, etc. For meat, choose pork chops or shank meat, which have relatively low oil content.

Professional solution: Compared to eating out, cooking at home is of course healthier! It is recommended to refer to the blanching method of shabu-shabu, prepare a pot of broth, add 3 large tomatoes, a lot of vegetables and a small amount of low-fat meat slices, and pumpkin can be used as a staple food. It can be eaten after blanching or boiling. There is less frying of ingredients, which is less burdensome to health. It is the first choice when you stay up late and have to eat midnight snacks. However, you should still be careful to "reduce the amount of dipping sauce" and "avoid excessive seasoning" when consuming it!

To remedy the damage caused by staying up late, drink fruit and vegetable juice every other day to increase antioxidant capacity

Although choosing the right types of midnight snacks can slightly reduce the risk of obesity, it is not enough! Nutritionist Zhao Hanying said that staying up late will cause the human body to produce more free radicals, triggering inflammation and leading to obesity. Therefore, it is recommended to prepare a glass of freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juice the next day after staying up late. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamin C and various phytochemicals, have strong antioxidant properties, and help eliminate free radicals.

Among them, in terms of fruit selection, studies have found that acai berry has the strongest antioxidant capacity, but acai berry is not easy to obtain in China, so it can be replaced with the more common blueberry. In addition, grapes are rich in anthocyanins and are also a fruit with good antioxidant properties. People who stay up late at night can take a fist-sized amount of blueberries and grapes in the morning, add a small piece of ginger and an appropriate amount of boiled water, put them into a juicer, blend them evenly and drink them. The full power of purple fruits can help eliminate free radicals and consolidate the foundation of health.