Mini-Article: Carbs at Night?
by Dr. Lonnie Lowery

Q: I heard somewhere that I should eat carbs in the evening. Is this true?

A: I can't speak for anyone who'd tell you that, but he may have a solid reason. Perhaps it has to do with minor and lingering next-day effects — or just marketing value.

I prefer less carbs in the evening. Maybe I just can't get around the 30-50mg/dl higher blood glucose readings (to a standard meal) that are seen in the evening vs. the morning, as those evening carbs remain partly "trapped" in the bloodstream. To me this just can't be good.

My continued support of this conclusion isn't based on catchy marketing or ego. You see, I'm not the only one noticing potential metabolic problems with high evening carbs. Here are some quotes, the first on the consequences of evening carb intake and the second on the potential benefits of reducing them:

... high nocturnal glucose and insulin concentrations would lead to a reduction in fatty acid oxidation [less fat burning]... Fatty acids in the liver may then have been driven toward esterification [increased fat building] and thus new triacylglycerols would form, which would be exported to the plasma as VLDL triacylglycerol. Fasting fatty acid concentrations were also suppressed after the high-carbohydrate meal, a further probable effect of high nocturnal insulin concentrations. Insulin significantly affects lipase activity, serving to lower circulating fatty acids. [blunted fat breakdown] Hormone sensitive lipase would be suppressed, reducing the quantity of fatty acid liberated from adipose tissue. Furthermore, adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase activity would be increased by insulin, which would favor the uptake of fatty acids into adipose tissue for triacylglycerol storage.

While on the other hand...

After the high-fat evening meal, it's likely that plasma fatty acid concentrations would have risen because of the spillover from triacylglycerol lipolysis and the liberation of fatty acids from adipose tissue. [increased body fat breakdown/ extraction] In the absence of significant insulin concentrations, circulating fatty acids are likely to have undergone ß-oxidation. [fat burning] This theory is supported by the higher 3-hydroxybutyrate concentrations observed in the fasting state after the high-fat evening meal.

— Robertson, M., et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002 Mar;75(3): 505-10.

Overall, these data are persuasive. And when we consider that an entire, relatively new condition has been created called "night eating disorder," which is related to higher carbohydrate intake and fat gain, Temporal Nutrition becomes even more convincing.

Carbohydrate intake, especially in the PM hours, is a problem for many of us. It's little wonder that legitimate healthcare authorities have long-followed the "plate sectioning method," which aims to control the amount of starch on your plate. (So, I'm not alone in this thinking.) The version below is an old school approach used by nutritionists in Idaho that I believe was originally Swedish:

I'd like to also comment on the consequences of evening carb intake and suppression of growth hormone secretion (especially among men, who enjoy about 2/3 to 3/4 of their daily GH output early during early sleep). It's not helpful. Still, I'm not satisfied that evening fats would be any better in this regard.

You see, although it's long been known that dietary carbohydrate interferes with non-exercise GH secretion, I've also seen data that fatty acids do, too. The difference is that fats keep up your precious Testosterone levels, whereas carbs do little in this regard. And Testosterone acts synergistically with GH — amazingly so according to some information shared with me by renown researcher Kevin Yarasheski at a conference a few years ago.

GH alone is grossly overrated for muscle gain. But, if you're one of the people who are really into GH, you may want your last fatty meal to be consumed by 7-8 PM (depending on your bedtime).