Carbohydrates have gotten a bad rap from a lot of self-proclaimed “fat loss experts” and Instagram fitness gurus because it is known that some people will always notice a sudden drop in body weight when they eliminate them or cut them down considerably. But is it the lack of carbs in one’s diet that are strictly responsible here?

The answer is no. Although lower carbs can lead to a small amount of water weight loss, loss in body fat materializes when one reduces their total calorie intake, not just carbs! Most people’s general diet will contain a lot of carbohydrates. If you suddenly ban them, you’re going to eat far fewer calories and begin to lose weight. This isn’t sustainable and unless you’re super knowledgeable on how to strategically fuel your body with increase fats and are not very active with your fitness, you’ll also notice lower levels of energy, performance, lean muscle enhancement, sex drive and an upswing of occurrences of being in a bad mood.

So try and base your beliefs toward these type of things more so off research and scientific validations, instead of what you heard from a guy or read in a post that one time. Regardless, the “fake news” that carbohydrates make you fat is not even the thing I want to talk about, but it was a great place to start in order to introduce today’s topic…

I want to crush the myth that eating carbs at night time will make you fat!

There is absolutely no scientific evidence out there which suggests eating carbohydrates later in the day, or at any other time, makes you fat. Your body isn’t smart enough to identify the time of day it is from a digestive or metabolic standpoint. Overeating at night is just as damaging to one’s goals then overeating during the day.

Not only that, there are a lot of benefits for many people in eating carbohydrates during the PM, I’ll explain those in a moment.

Fat loss is genuinely this simple. You need to sustain a calorie deficit for a long enough period of time, while keeping your protein intake high, along with fibrous veggies and micronutrients to support health. This helps you lose fat and stay healthy while simultaneously increasing lean muscle.

The split between carbs and fats can be more subjective based on your preferences, most people favor carbohydrates because they taste awesome and make them perform better physically, mentally and from a recovery spectrum!

This is why the team of Fitness Chefs at Nutrition Solutions prepare our International Chef Inspired Menus with items containing a huge variety of healthy carbohydrates! They understand what drives and optimizes human performance and have thousands of testimonials to prove it!

So how can carbohydrates later in the day actually be beneficial?

Here are 3 reasons…

Socially speaking, if you sit down with family or friends in the evening to eat and enjoy each others company… Having the flexibility to eat a wholesome balanced meal at this point is probably beneficial here.
A lot of people train later in the day and we know with 100% certainty that carbs can improve performance during a workout leading to higher levels of sustainable energy, a better pump and post-training carbohydrate uptake/absorption is improved, so they benefit recovery, help rebuild bigger, stronger muscle tissue and prepare you for the next day and your next workout.
Here’s the big one… Carbohydrates cause the release of serotonin, a chemical the brain releases that makes you sleepy. (Ever wonder where the phrase “carb coma” came from?) Improved sleep quality is essential to fat loss, recovery and naturally enhances things like anabolic hormone production as well as reducing cortisol. (The stress hormone)
As long as you’re moderating your portions as you would any other meal at any other time of day, eating sufficient amounts of healthy lean proteins, carbs and veggies, you have absolutely nothing to worry about in regard to eating carbs at night or any other time! In fact, if you’re training hard at night, taking in carbs later in the day will be extremely beneficial in expediting the process of you accomplishing your goals and getting a better nights rest!

Carbs aren’t the enemy. Lack of discipline, consistency and eating like sh*t more often than not is!