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VERIFIED CONTENTAuthor: Magdalena Cubała-Kucharska, MD, PhD
Night eating syndrome (NES) is a dangerous disorder of eating out uncontrollably overnight. Does it seem trivial? This is a mistake. A person with this syndrome may unknowingly hurt himself or his loved ones, for example by starting a fire while cooking. We talked about the night eating team with Dr. Magdalena Cubała-Kucharska, MD, an expert in integrative medicine, a specialist in family medicine, environmental medicine and allergology.
Patrycja Pupiec: Is the night eating team a serious problem for modern people? What is the scale of this disorder?
Magdalena Cubała-Kucharska:It is very difficult to define it precisely, but it is estimated that a maximum of 1% suffer from NES. society, although doctors do not know how many people admit to this problem. It turns out that a great many of my patients are openly saying that they have ever had eating situations at night, but most often they are related to obesity.
People have a hard time admitting it, everyone would like to be in style and show how accurately they are following the diet, and the topic of someone waking up at night to eat something is sometimes a closely guarded secret hidden inside families.
Why?
People with this problem often don't want to admit it to anyone. Sometimes their relatives can mock them, and the NES can be very dangerous. As long as we consciously go to the refrigerator at night, it is dangerous for our weight, but when the person who eats unconsciously cooks, begins to prepare sandwiches with a sharp knife, there is a danger of burns and injury.
I think that it is only when a tragedy occurs that the family begins to talk about it. Unfortunately, we cannot rely on specific statistics, because they have not been created yet.
So until something dangerous happens, the problem is skipped?
Practically until recently this problem was not recognized at all. It was considered to be solely a matter of the good or bad will of the person who cannot control himself. When someone unconsciously, even sleepwalking, goes to the kitchen to make a snack, a real danger begins, especiallyif these bouts of night hunger are accompanied by retrograde amnesia, and after waking up, you see clear signs of using the kitchen.
There is not much research paper available on NES. Is this a new problem or is it just the advancement of medicine that makes us notice it only now?
Absolutely there has always been this problem, but only now there are observations about it. There are more and more of these scientific analyzes. Very often these are directions of logical searches, but as doctors we have to offer something to people with such problems.
This medical knowledge is growing and I am very happy about it. We are also more inclined to describe and characterize certain problems. However, I think that our contemporary culture brings out such problems. I don't know anyone in my environment who is not on a diet.
Can certain ailments affect the occurrence of night eating syndrome?
NES is most often associated with disorders such as insulin resistance, with high blood sugar drops during the night. But not only insulin resistance. Depressed mood, depression, and conditions of increased stress may be associated with disorders of serotonin, commonly known as the happiness hormone. It is a substance that influences our positive emotions, so it is better to have more than less, but there are people who have a problem with the intestines and have too much of it.
NES is a problem for adults only, are children also at risk?
Absolutely kids are also at risk. Please remember that in children, eating rhythms are disrupted properly through improper nutrition. This is something that definitely makes a big difference, so if your child's blood glucose drops and spikes, it may happen that the child gets up at night and starts eating.
What signals may worry a person who suspects NES or a parent who is concerned that their child may have a problem with this disorder?
Eating bouts should always be a warning sign. If it is snacking on the principle that we are awake or unable to fall asleep and go to the kitchen to have a snack - it is a matter of willpower. However, if someone wakes up at night or while sleepwalking, eats various types of foods, not only sweets, because they are often semi-edible foods, this is a very serious signal.
Interestingly, people with NES generally do not have an appetite for breakfast. It is often this meal that they skip, and the hunger for voraciousness does not appear until the evening.
How to deal with such situations?
Ifwe will notice that such symptoms occur, it is best to put some very easily digestible snack next to the bed, preferably a low-calorie snack with a low glycemic index - porridge or lentil soup. This can actually work and prove to be a good solution. The most important aspect is established dietary calculations.
Apparently each of us knows, although it is an individual matter for a specific time, but it is good to finish eating for a specific period before going to bed. On the other hand, if this is to result in a person waking up at night because he has to eat, maybe the problem lies elsewhere? Maybe these are problems with gastric emptying, the already mentioned sugar drops at night, which are also associated with disorders of cortisol secretion, but these are my observations resulting from many years of medical practice.
Sometimes the problem is that a person goes to bed hungry because he is on a diet and a dietitian has advised him to eat his last meal at 5:00 PM. This is another stimulus that can cause such problems. It is not difficult to lose control in such a case, and when she slips out of our hands, subconsciousness works, people sleepwalk and eat food from the refrigerator.
Today's times are characterized by a tendency to skip meals. As a doctor, I am in this type of situation because I work a lot and my meal times are not always regular, because sometimes it is simply difficult. You should develop some habits for your own good.
What are these habits?
In addition to what I mentioned, you should definitely eat breakfast, focus on cooking meals, because it also shapes good habits in some way, remember about the intervals between meals due to the rhythm of our intestines, do not eat excessively , I even urge you to calm down, because the world is not a cornucopia and we really are not in a restaurant forever.
It is also very important to compose your dishes - this major part of the plate should still be green.
NES, false hunger and emotional eating at night - should these disorders be treated completely differently?
They are similar in some way, although emotional snacking is another issue nonetheless. An emotional eater will approach the refrigerator or the chocolate cupboard at times when they can consciously control it. However, if someone wakes up from sleep and marches towards food supplies, it is disturbing, it should not be happening.
In most cases, these people do not even feel any pleasure associated with eating, and emotional snacking activates the reward system,sometimes also guilt, but mainly there is the moment when the momentary filling of the stomach, stimulation of the palate gives a person joy, while in the case of NES there is no such luck, and in the morning shame and guilt appear most often.
You mentioned contemporary culture of which social media is a part. Could they help make problems related to disorders like NES worsen and become more numerous?
The media create specific ideals of the figure and this may happen if we try to fit within these established frames. It can already be seen that it would be best if we were all one size fits all - in this perfect size.
Especially in Europe, because on the one hand there is a cult of figure in the United States, but on the other hand, we know how obesity is a big problem in the USA. Due to the greater ethnic diversity, people of different sizes are more easily accepted.
How about us? In fact, the clothes end with size 42. We Poles, generally Europeans, definitely like people with a very slim figure, and practically speaking, there is no turning back now. Today, the cult of a slim figure affects almost everyone, not only models.
What tests should someone who suspects NES have?
First of all, you should check your sugar levels, cortisol secretion and such aspects. Unfortunately, of course, most of these are private research. In the case of insulin level testing, if it is performed with insulin resistance, there are many places where you can contact the National He alth Fund and it is worth using it, and at the same time consult an endocrinologist, although I know that, unfortunately, this specialization is they are very long.
Should there be classes in schools about proper nutrition?
I am absolutely convinced that such classes are needed, especially now that in a sense the food industry has deceived us a lot - the quality of food is getting penny. In Poland, the quality of food is not paid to attention, which means that we still have a lot to do.
I think education from an early age is very important. First of all, children should know the importance of keeping an eye on the intervals between meals. Try to include in their diets silage and fermented foods that are so good for the development of a proper intestinal microbiome.
Sometimes NES can be the result of other eating problems, right? Another disease may be responsible for the disorder, such as bulimia oranorexia.
Yes, NES can be associated with disorders such as bulimia and anorexia. Although bulimia is even more so. This disease affects many women. Eating disorders have always been associated with the bond with the mother, but in my opinion it is still a disorder of the social bond.
Please note that bulimia often develops at the age when girls begin to compare their own body with another, and because there is only one pattern and only that model is correct, there may be a lack of acceptance for one's physicality.
And here is another danger in the form of orthorexia, which is a disorder associated with incorrect perception of the figure. I myself know very few people who do not have any eating disorder.
As for the treatment of NES itself - should it take place in two ways, i.e. pharmacology on the one hand, and psychological help on the other?
I think it would be best to combine the knowledge of a psychodietician who can choose the right meals for individual problems and plan the entire menu, if we have a problem with it ourselves. On the other hand, a doctor who, if necessary, includes pharmacology, but also the help of a specialist psychologist or psychiatrist may also be necessary. Sometimes this psychological support is just as important as food hygiene.
It is also not that these hours are not known how important, because Italians can eat dinner at 22:00, and yet they are slim and he althy. It is important what we eat and in what amounts, so it will be helpful to spread out these meals throughout the day so that you get the right amount of calories.
Magdalena Cubała-Kucharska, MD, PhDA specialist in family medicine, environmental medicine and allergology, expert in integrative medicine. Founder of the Arcana Integrative Medicine Institute, since 2004 a member of the American Defeat Autism Now!