A common strategy to lose weight is to cut out foods that are high in carbohydrates at night. This is sometimes referred to as a carb curfew, and involves eliminating foods like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes after 5:00pm. Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy to help determine if it really can help you lose weight.
Advantages
• Encourages you to eat more vegetables
• Reduces kilojoule intake when you’re metabolism is slowing down
• Can make you feel hungrier the next morning, and more likely to eat breakfast
Disadvantages
• Can be anti-social
• Ridged rules are often hard to stick with
• Not based on scientific evidence
It’s also important to note that not all carbohydrates are created equally. Carbohydrates vary in the rate at which they are absorbed and raise blood glucose levels (their gylcaemic index), with less processed varieties (brown rice, whole meal or high fibre bread and pasta) preferable as they tend to be lower on the GI scale. .
Ultimately, carbohydrates can’t tell the time, or care when they are consumed. If you eat pasta, bread or rice at any time of the day or night, go for the least processed option, and keep your portions small. The quality of what you eat, and how much you eat, is more important than when you eat.
Carb management at night is probably a better strategy than a carb curfew. Moderate your portion size of carbohydrate foods and starchy vegetables, and focus on minimally processed, low GI alternatives. Then balance your meal out with lean protein sources and plenty of fibrous vegetables.
Have you ever been on a carb curfew, and if so, did it work for you? Do you feel that eating too many carbohydrates makes it harder to lose weight?
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