Are Night Eating and Binge Eating at Night the Same Thing?
Do you wake up in the middle of the night and binge eat at night on a consistent basis? When you walk into the kitchen half-asleep, does it feel as though nothing can stop you from eating? You may suffer from night eating. Whether it’s 3 AM in California, NYC, or Florida, you may feel as though you eat uncontrollably. In the morning, you see the remnants of the eating episode and feel embarrassed or ashamed. Your kids or partner comment on it. You’re not sure how to stop. Is night eating the same as binge eating? Great question. Let’s explore it!
What is Night Eating? Is it the same as Binge Eating at Night?
Whether in Atlanta, Colorado, or Chicago, night eating is when you have sleeping problems, and experience dysregulated eating in the middle of the night. Also known as night eating syndrome (coined in 1955), night eating is either (a) an eating disorder behavior that is one symptom of a larger eating disorder diagnosis, such as binge eating disorder, bulimia, or anorexia (binge/purge subtype), or (b) a behavior or syndrome on its own. It occurs when you have disrupted sleep and feel compelled to eat. Sometimes it feels as though you won’t be able to sleep unless you eat. The next morning you may feel shame and embarrassment because you ate during the night. Regardless, to meet the criteria for night eating, you’ll need to
What Causes Binge Eating at Night or Comfort Eating?
An intersection of two causes. The first is food restriction during the day. A caloric deficit builds so that physiologically you need to make up the calories, and so your body does so by eating during the night. This compensatory behavior can begin after dinner and pop up again in the middle of the night. Or, the restriction can continue through the time you go to sleep, and then you eat a large amount of food between bouts of sleep. When you’re restricting, it’s impossible to stop night eating. It’s like trying to stop a bullet train with a big pile of marshmallows. Sure, it looks interesting, but it doesn’t make a bit of a difference. The second cause is insomnia. There needs to be a pattern of dysregulated sleep in order for night eating to occur. Night eating = Sleep disruption.
How is Night Eating Similar to or Different from Binge Eating at Night?
It all depends on the amount of food you consume. For some, night eating can be the size of a small-to-medium snack. For others, night eating comprises eating one thing after another until you either run out of available food to eat, or you feel so uncomfortable that you have to stop. The former is a disordered eating behavior. The latter would qualify as a binge. Both behaviors feel compulsive. Both are impossible to stop unless you cease restricting food during the day.
How can I Stop Night Eating?
#1: Stop the restriction. Eat regularly throughout the day. Called mechanical eating or systematic eating, it means that you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as one snack in between each. Many eating disorder professionals in San Diego, Atlanta, New York, and Chicago use the term “the rule of 3s.” That means you eat 3 meals/day, 3 snacks (mid-morning, mid-afternoon, after dinner), with 3 components (e.g., a carb, protein, fat). I know, I know, you’re probably thinking, “Dr. Marianne, that’s a lot of food!” It probably feels like a lot if you’re not eating very much in the mornings and afternoons. It might help to consider it “replacement food” for the food you eat at night. Begin small by eating breakfast within 1 hour of waking, then add a mid-morning snack, then a decent lunch, then a mid-afternoon snack, etc.
#2: Treat the insomnia. Visit your primary care physician or primary medical provider and ask what you can do to improve your sleep. It can be medication, behavior changes, or a combination of both. You may have to try multiple strategies before you find the right mix to help you sleep. If you have already tried a lot of medications and have worked on improving sleep hygiene and nothing changes, I’d request that you see a sleep specialist, who may have you do a sleep study to determine whether there are other issues involved, such as sleep apnea or any cardiac problems.
If you Struggle with Comfort Eating or Binge Eating at Night, Marianne’s Binge Eating Program in New York, Colorado, Atlanta, California, Chicago, and Anywhere in the World Can Help!
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*The ELITE BINGE EATING RECOVERY METHOD is virtual binge eating education and coaching support. The goal of this program is to help people stop any type of distressed eating, such as binge eating or binge/purge behaviors via education, behavioral changes, and mindset shifts. The ELITE BINGE EATING RECOVERY METHOD is not a clinical eating disorder therapy or eating disorder treatment programs and is not intended to serve as such. In them, Dr. Marianne Miller works from her role as a binge-eating coach, not as a binge-eating therapist.