Night Eating Syndrome (NES)

Imagine a scenario where you get up in the morning with absolutely no hunger. You don't eat. As the day wears on, you drink a lot of coffee. You eat a light lunch or snack.Come dinnertime you're ravenous. You eat dinner. But then you snack after dinner almost continuously right up to the time you go to bed. Your choices might include candy, cookies, potato chips or ice cream. This is the pattern day after day for people with Night Eating Syndrome (NES).

Night Eating Syndrome (NES) is a form of compulsive eating. It is commonly seen in those who are overweight. Doctors believe that NES may be caused by a defect in the sufferer's body clock. Foods eaten during the binge often contain many calories and unhealthy. The night eating behaviour seems totally beyond the effected sufferer's control. For these individuals, 35% or more of their calories are consumed after dinner. Following the night binge, the person is often not hungry in the morning. Individuals suffering from NES are often caught in the vicious cycle of binge eating during the night and eating less in the day. Night eating syndrome affects about 1 percent to 2 percent of the general population.

1. The signs and symptoms of Night Eating Syndrome (NES) include the following:

• Not feeling hungry in the morning. Typically the person has little or no appetite for breakfast and delays the first meal for several hours after waking. [ YES: Breakfast was never part of my daily routine in my entire life. Upon waking up, I've no appetite to eat /drink anything till hours later. ]

• Overeating in the evening. In contrast to a lack of appetite in the morning, the person consumes more than one-half of his or her daily food intake after dinner but before breakfast and often has more food after dinner than during that meal. [YES: Consumption of food is zilch for breakfast, a lightweight lunch follows after that, and the total food intake for dinner is twice that of breakfast and lunch. More often than not,nocturnal online activity guarantees another bout of eating ]

• Difficulty falling asleep. The individual finds it hard to fall asleep. He or she may toss and turn for some time and feel a need to eat something just before going to bed to help him or her fall asleep faster. [ MAYBE: Falling asleep can be a chore unless I'm really bushed. Tossing and turning for approximately 30 minutes is my nightly ritual. However, I do not get up to eat something to hasten the journey to slumberland. ]

• Waking at night and eating. The person may wake at least once during the night and find it necessary to eat before being able to fall asleep again. [NO: On a normal working day, I've barely 4-5 hours of sleep. Why would I choose food over sleep?!]

• The eating produces feelings of guilt and shame, not enjoyment. [MAYBE: While I dig into the heavenly prata/cornetto/minced pork noodles/wanton mee/whatever catches my fancy, I'm aware of the sinful remnants residing within.]

• Feeling depressed. In addition to eating and sleeping problems, the individual may feel sad or disconsolate. Especially at night, the individual may be moody, tense, anxious, or agitated. [MAYBE: When the world's asleep, it's the best time for self-reflection. The quiet of the night allows me to shut out the daily nuances and concentrate on nothing else but myself. It allows room for thought and heightens any emotion evoked during the day.]

2. Identifying Night Eating Patterns

NES can assume a number of different forms or patterns. The authors of the book Overcoming Night Eating Syndrome: A Step-By-Step Guide to Breaking the Cycle discuss four different types of night eaters:
• the compelled evening and nighttime overeater;
• the anxious/agitated night eater;
• the cravings night eater; and
• the all-or-nothing belief about sleep night eater.6

The compelled evening and nighttime overeater is described as someone who doesn’t get up to eat in the middle of the night but does consume most of his or her calories in the evening and nighttime. Often, the individual will stay up late and continue eating after the evening meal.

In contrast, the anxious/agitated night eater wakes up at night plagued with anxiety-provoking thoughts that create stress and agitation. For this type of eater, the physical agitation directs his or her to food as a means to calm down.

The cravings night eater experiences overwhelming food cravings. For this individual, eating a certain food is the primary goal, not so much whether or not it will help facilitate sleep. After having the desired food, he or she will frequently experience remorse, guilt, and even physical distress.

Finally, the fourth type of night eater—described as the all-or-nothing belief about sleep night eater—is concerned about not getting enough sleep. In this pattern, the person is focused on sleep, not food. When the person wakes up in the middle of the night, he or she uses food as a means to help get back to sleep with the belief that eating will help him or her relax and thus aid in achieving better sleep.

==> Conclusion: I must belong to the first group of compelled evening and nighttime overeaters. I'm too lazy to drag myself out of bed for any munching activity but I do have a voracious appetite at night.

3. Triggers for Night Eating Syndrome
They include depression, anxiety, interpersonal stressors, boredom, prolonged dieting, and body image dissatisfaction. Night eating may temporarily relieve the stress of these unwanted feelings, but for the night eater these episodes are unfortunately followed by feelings of guilt, shame, disgust, and further depression.

I've never had any weight issues. Aneroxia & bulimia were never part of my worries as I live to eat. Food's an important part of my life! I'm a walking stick insect and the heaviest I've ever been was 48kg in 1996. Aside from that year of the Fat, my weight has always hovered around 42 to 44kg consistently during this decade. It is indeed strange and unnerving to uncover Night Eating Syndrome in a random google search.

--URGH--