Put your feet up, relax in front of the TV and, almost inevitably, your stomach turns to snacking. To open the fridge or not is a question that plagues many afflicted by an evening attack of the nibbles.
On the one hand are studies warning that to consume anything after 7pm — even after 5pm, according to one Columbia University study last year — is a route to metabolic disaster that will come back to bite us in the form of fat on the waistline, derailed sleep, disturbed blood sugar and raised risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes. But is evening snacking as bad for us as we are led to believe?
Reassuringly not all experts think so and some stress that we need a clearer perspective on the “no night nibbles” rule. What you snack on, how close to sleeping you do so and what you eat during the rest of the day have a much greater bearing on health than a few squares of dark chocolate at 8pm, they say. For a nation of snackers — 95 per cent of UK adults have a snacking habit, according to research conducted at Kings College London (KCL) — that is welcome news.
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“Not all night snacking is inherently bad and a nutrient-dense snack may even support better sleep for some people,” says Alex Ruani, a nutrition researcher at University College London and chief science educator at the Health Sciences Academy. “Also, going to bed hungry can actually make it harder to fall asleep, especially if you had an early or light dinner, so a snack might offset that grumbling tummy.”
In the KCL study snackers were shown to be healthier than non-snackers. “They tended to have better BMIs and waist circumferences than people who don’t snack at all,” says Dr Frederica Amati, research fellow and nutrition lead at Imperial College London’s School of Public Health. And while the research did show that timing matters, it was less damning of evening intake than might have been expected.
Only snacking after 9pm was associated with poorer blood markers — people who snacked at this time tended to eat sugary, high fat and more processed foods. “It’s less about ‘the clock’ and more about choosing snacks carefully and leaving enough time before bed, ideally avoiding eating immediately before lying down, as that can cause digestive discomfort or reflux that may disrupt sleep,” Ruani says.
What about the weight gain associated with eating at night? “Night snacks will mainly lead to weight gain only if they consistently push you into a calorie surplus,” Ruani says. “But for some the right type of snack last thing may help to regulate appetite and reduce overeating the next day, which would have a positive effect on weight.”
Of course, the message is to take your hand out of the tortilla chips packet and not to spoon ice cream from the tub last thing. So what do the experts do instead? Ruani snacks on cashews or pistachios 45 minutes to an hour before bedtime. “I am convinced they help me to fall asleep faster, which I suspect is down to the natural sleep-inducing melatonin content of both,” she says.
Amati says the trick is to plan ahead so that you avoid too much sugary temptation. “We have young kids so tend to eat early and sometimes by 8.30pm I am thinking, hmmm, I might need something else,” she says. “I make a date, crunchy peanut and dark chocolate bar to keep in the freezer or have dark chocolate almonds if I want something sweet, but there are plenty of options for healthy evening snacks.” Here’s a guide to guilt-free evening snacking.
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What is the cut-off time for evening snacking?
Trying not to snack after 9pm is ideal for most people who routinely go to bed between 10pm and 11pm, Amati says, but it’s not a rule set in stone.
“If you have had a really busy or active day and are starving later on, then you are best off having a healthy snack than going to bed hungry,” she says. “Equally, if you are going out for an occasional meal, don’t miss out thinking there’s a watertight cut-off beyond which you shouldn’t eat.”
Your body clock, or chronobiology, has an impact on when the best time is to stop snacking at night. “For most people, eating after 9pm does have a negative consequence on metabolism the next day,” she says. “However, if you are someone who routinely goes to bed later at midnight or 1am, then that threshold shifts accordingly and you might get the nibbles at 10pm.”
Is an evening avocado going to boost my gut health?
Eating avocados regularly has been linked to reducing everything from your risk of heart disease to the distribution of harmful belly fat and now it seems that as an evening snack they might have added value. Scientists at the University of Illinois found that snacking on avocados at night can trigger what they termed the “second-meal effect”, meaning that the composition of one meal affects how your body processes the next.
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The participants, all of whom were adults with raised blood sugar levels, were asked to eat either a whole avocado, a low-fat low-fibre snack or a processed snack designed to match the avocado’s fat and fibre content between 8pm and 9pm each evening. It was the avocados alone that led the next morning to healthier metabolism of triglycerides, fats in the body that are a risk factor for type 2 diabetes when raised.
Britt Burton-Freeman, professor of food science and the lead author of the study, said it was avocado’s whole package — “its whole-food matrix” — that produced the benefits and that avocados at night might also support general heart health. “While the good fats and fibre in avocados already make them a satisfying snack, this research is making us think about how snacks before bed — something 84 per cent of people consume regularly — can influence how the body handles food later,” Burton-Freeman said.
Will eating Greek yoghurt before bed really help to build strong muscles?
A 2020 review in the journal Physical Activity and Nutrition showed that consuming at least 40g of casein protein, the type found in milk-based foods, approximately half an hour before sleep can aid muscle recovery and growth. However, there is an important caveat for most of us — it will only work if you have been lifting heavy weights in the hours beforehand.
“Yes, you do need to do the exercise first,” says George Morris, an exercise physiologist based at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. “The same benefits don’t come if you just eat protein and do nothing.”
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There’s evidence that we absorb more amino acids from protein when we sleep, Morris says, and if you are over 60, eating yoghurt or another form of protein in the evening might be even more beneficial. “We get a bit less efficient at absorbing protein and distributing it throughout the day in later life,” Amati says. “Having something like a yoghurt or oatmeal with kefir at night might help to maintain the nitrogen balance that is important for protein metabolism over the 24-hour period in your sixties and seventies.”
Pistachios can shift the gut microbial landscape, especially when consumed as a snack later on
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Are pistachios the ultimate night-time snack?
Most nuts are good for us and, within reason, snacking on them boosts diet quality, helps to protect against heart disease and, according to a 2025 study published in Clinical Nutrition improves the health profile of adults at risk for metabolic disease. But what about eating nuts at night?
Amati says she keeps Kilner jars of nuts on standby in her kitchen in case of an evening snack attack and Ruani favours pistachios, recently shown to be a winner in the war against type 2 diabetes. It is sometimes recommended that adults with prediabetes, defined as higher than normal blood sugar and affecting one in nine adults in the UK, eat a night-time snack of 15-30g carbohydrates, such as one or two slices of wholegrain bread, to regulate blood sugar levels overnight, the scientists said.
For her study in the journal Current Developments in Nutrition, Kristina Petersen, associate professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State University, asked 51 participants with the condition to consume 50 grams of pistachios each night instead. After three months, there were significant improvements to their microbiome including a rise in “good bacteria’’ such as Roseburia and Lachnospiraceae. These beneficial bugs are known to produce short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate, an energy source for gut cells, which helps to maintain a healthy gut barrier and to reduce inflammatory processes that exacerbate metabolic disease.
“Pistachios seem to be able to meaningfully shift the gut microbial landscape in adults with prediabetes, especially when consumed as a nighttime snack,” Petersen said. “These microbiome changes may offer other long-term health benefits, potentially helping to slow the development of type 2 diabetes or to reduce systemic inflammation.”
I’ve heard that eating cottage cheese at night will aid recovery from workouts …
Eating two tablespoons of cottage cheese before bed was shown to have a positive effect on repair and regeneration of muscles and on general health, with no negative effect on metabolism or hunger levels the following morning. In a study of active women in their twenties at Florida State University, physiologists suggested that cottage cheese is as effective as commercial protein shakes and supplements — only much cheaper. “Cottage cheese is another source of casein, a slow-digesting protein that supports overnight muscle repair, particularly useful if you’re very active,” Ruani says.
Milk provides calcium, while bananas are rich in magnesium and potassium
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Should I take a banana and warm milk to help me sleep better?
It’s a combo that was shown in a 2024 study by health scientists in Turkey to improve sleep, regulate appetite hormones and reduce insomnia. Rhiannon Lambert, a registered nutritionist and author of The Science of Plant-Based Nutrition, says bananas and milk both contain tryptophan, an essential amino acid that serves as a precursor to serotonin and melatonin, neurotransmitters that help regulate mood and the sleep-wake cycle.
“Milk also provides calcium, which helps the brain use tryptophan to manufacture melatonin more effectively,” Lambert says. “Additionally, bananas are rich in magnesium and potassium, minerals that support muscle relaxation.”
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