Big news! March, 2006:

Experts have found a link between the use of the sleep-inducing drug Ambien, and sleep-eating. Read the CNN report.

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Gloria has a lot of willpower, but she doesn't think so. Each day she dutifully follows her diet rules. She journals what she eats, and weighs and measures everything. She avoids sugar and sweets, and eats low-calorie foods. But lately she's been feeling out of control, in spite of all that good discipline during the day.

Gloria wakes up in the middle of the night and raids the refrigerator. She eats anything and everything she can find. Sometimes she brings it back to bed with her. In the morning, she feels ashamed, defeated, and out of control. But she is a determined person, so she then takes her shower and redoubles her efforts for the new day.

What is happening during night eating?

Gloria's sleep eating disorder is more common than she realizes. According to some studies, up to 3 million Americans may have a sleep related eating disorder. Two types of this disorder have been named.

The first, NES, stands for "night eating syndrome." This disorder is characterized by frequent night waking in which the patient is unable to fall back to sleep unless he eats.

The second disorder, SRED, stands for "sleep-related eating disorder." People with SRED do not completely wake up while they are sleep eating, and may have no knowledge of it in the morning, other than the evidence they left behind in the kitchen. These disorders have been receiving some media coverage as of late, such as on ABC News, and in Newsweek magazine.

Why do people develop sleep eating disorders?

Much is still not known about night eating syndrome or night eating disorders. In Gloria's case, the night eating could be explained at least partially by her overly rigid regimen during the day. In all likelihood, though, studies will show that there are several possible causes for different people.

Among those causes could be: emotional difficulties, inordinate stress due to life circumstances, stress about dieting, rigid self-imposed rules during the day, accidental ingestion of stimulants such as the stimulants hidden in some foods*, the brain's attempt to correct bulimia, anorexia, or a forced low weight, and an attempt to get missing nutrients.

Does night eating contribute to weight gain?

Dieters may be tempted to attack their night eating as the cause of their weight. This belief is even reinforced by advice offered in consumer magazines. The headline reads "Reduce your calories by twenty percent." Then the subtitle reads, "Eliminate that midnight snack!"

But often the night eating is not so much the cause of weight gain, but the result of some other behavior, and were the dieter to eliminate the midnight snack, it would simply be replaced at some other time of the day.

For those who don't seem to have other sleep issues, may be as simple as getting off your diet, and returning to more satisfying meals. You may feel good and mighty and strong and virtuous eating that fat-free salad during the day, but your mind and body rebel at night.

normal eating is the easiest way to reduce your overall food intake. Then, if you continue to eat at night, due to under eating during your busy day, that midnight snack will no longer be extra food. You can either leave it alone, or try and eat a little more during the day.

How to stop night eating

At the present time, Sleep Disorder Clinics are trying antidepressants for patients with night eating syndrome, with some success reported. However, there remains a psychological component that probably needs to be addressed.

Gloria will benefit from some therapy that is directed toward problem-solving, such as REBT (rational-emotive behavior therapy) or cognitive therapy. This form of therapy marginalizes childhood issues, in favor of helping the patient to uncover faulty self-talk and irrational beliefs. In Gloria's case, she probably unknowingly harbors some beliefs about food and diets which evidence themselves only in the harshness and rigidness of her daytime diet. She can be helped to create a new set of beliefs and self-talk.

Gloria might do well to switch from dieting to normal eating. Learn more about normal eating. However, it is noteworthy that even non-dieters become overzealous about losing the weight too fast, resulting in their bodies rebelling in the middle of the night. It is important for non-dieters to understand that success will come from working with their bodies rather than against them. This means losing weight slowly.

Gloria can talk to others about normal eating and sleep disorders on the free Yahoo! message board.

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Self-talk that can lead to night eating syndrome

Gloria may be harboring some faulty beliefs or self-talk about food and dieting. She might even be able to solve her problem completely or at least help the solution along, with some replacement beliefs. Here are a few examples. Notice the contrast between the "have-to's" and the "would like-to's." You will see another contrast as well.

Help for sleep disorders

Gloria might benefit from consulting a Sleep Disorders Clinic. She can then decide for herself whether she would like to try any medicine that might be prescribed to her. In addition she could benefit from reading a book about how she can change her thinking. She can simply search for such books on the Web and order one. She can search on terms such as REBT, Cognitive therapy, and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy.

In addition, Gloria can learn more about normal eating by reading the free monthly newsletter, Diet Survivors™ (View a sample without subscribing.) Subscribe to the Diet Survivors newsletter.

Gloria might also like to buy the book How to Survive Your Diet and Conquer Your Food Issues Forever by Linda Moran. This book will help her with her thoughts and self-talk as they are directly related to eating disorders such as night eating. Learn more.

Stop your night eating and finally achieve your right weight.

Tired of dieting?

How to Survive Your Diet and Conquer Your Food Issues Forever

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  Betterway
  Press

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What about other diet problems?

To read more about how to solve diet problems, click on Solve your dieting problems. Diet problems are also addressed in How to Survive Your Diet and its companion newsletter, Diet Survivors™.

To learn more about normal eating, read what is normal eating?

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