Night Eating Syndrome, also known as Night Eating Disorder, is characterized by 3 main points:
1. Morning anorexia: the individual avoids feeding during the day, especially in the morning;
2. Evening and nocturnal hyperphagia: after the absence of meals during the day, an exaggerated consumption of food occurs especially from 6 pm;
3. Insomnia: It leads the person to eat during the night.
This syndrome tends to be triggered by stress, and occurs especially in people who are already overweight. When problems improve and stress decreases, the syndrome tends to disappear.
Symptoms of Night Eating Syndrome
Night Eating Syndrome occurs most often in women and can occur even in childhood or adolescence. If you think you may have this disorder, check your symptoms:
- 1. Do you eat more between 10 pm and 06 am, than during the day? Yes No
- 2. Do you wake up at least once during the night to eat? Yes No
- 3. Do you feel in a constant bad mood, which is worse at the end of the day? Yes No
- 4. Do you feel that you can not control your appetite between dinner and bedtime? Yes No
- 5. Do you have difficulty getting to sleep or to continue sleeping? Yes No
- 6. Are not you hungry enough to eat breakfast? Yes No
- 7. Do you have a hard time losing weight and can not do any diet properly? Yes No
It is important to highlight that this syndrome is associated with other problems such as obesity, depression, low self-esteem in people with obesity. See the difference of the symptoms of binge eating.
How the Diagnosis is done
The diagnosis of Night Eating Syndrome is made by the doctor or psychologist, and is based mainly on the behavioral symptoms of the patient, remembering that there can be no compensatory behavior, as occurs in bulimia when provoking vomiting, for example.
In addition, the doctor may also order tests that measure the hormones Cortisol and Melatonin. In general, cortisol, which is the stress hormone, is high in these patients, while melatonin is low, which is the hormone responsible for the sensation of sleep at night.
How to treat
Treatment of Night Eating Syndrome is done with psychotherapeutic follow-up and use of medications according to medical prescription, which may include remedies such as antidepressants and melatonin supplementation.
In addition, it is also necessary to have a follow-up with the nutritionist and to practice physical activity, since regular exercise is the best natural way to improve the production of hormones of well-being and that control hunger and sleep.
For other eating disorders, see also the differences between anorexia and bulimia.
