Night Eating Syndrome – Causes and Symptoms

Night eating syndrome is not the same as binge eating disorder, although individuals with night eating syndrome are often binge eaters. People with binge-eating disorder eat large amounts of food at different times of day, while those with night eating syndrome eat the majority of their food at night, but do not always binge. Individuals with night eating syndrome fell like they have no control over their eating patterns, and often feel shame and guilt over their condition. Night eating syndrome affects an estimated 1.5% of the population, and is equally common in men and women, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Night Eating Syndrome, also called the Nocturnal Eating Syndrome, is one very specific disorder where the affected individual wakes up several times during the night and is unable to fall back asleep unless they eat something. What's also characteristic- foods eaten during these wake episodes are often high caloric in content and unhealthy. The fact is also that these eating episodes usually occur in secret and any evidence is often hidden from others.

Night Eating Syndrome is a disorder where the affected individual wakes multiple times during the night and is unable to fall back asleep unless they eat something. Foods eaten during the binge are often high caloric in content and unhealthy. The night eating behavior seems totally beyond the effected individual's control. For these individuals, 35% or more of their calories are eaten after dinnertime.

Night-eating syndrome has not yet been formally defined as an eating disorder. Underlying causes are being identified, and treatment plans are still being developed. It seems likely that a combination of biological, genetic, and emotional factors contribute to the problem.

Night eating syndrome, also known as sleep-related eating, is considered by medical doctors as a parasomnia. It is not a frequent sleepwalking type. People suffering from this disorder have experiences of recurrent eating episodes while asleep, without actually being aware that they are actually doing it. This nocturnal eating syndrome might happen most of the time that it would show significant gain in your weight.

Causes

Insomnia may be one cause of night eating syndrome. People with insomnia often wake during the night and find eating foods with high carbohydrate content often helps them relax, and may help them fall asleep. Still others drink warm milk to try and relax during the evening. More commonly however, recent research suggests the people most at risk for night eating syndrome are people that do not eat enough during the day, or restrict calories during the day.

Night eating syndrome is an emotionally charged eating behavior that typically runs in families. Obese people are more likely to turn to food for self-medication and development eating syndrome. If you treat dinner as your main meal of the day and eat more than 50% of your daily calories after dinner you are likely a nighttime eater. Other symptoms are not feeling hungry in the morning for breakfast and feeling stressed out or depressed.

Night eating disorder tends to lead to weight gain; as many as 28% of those seeking gastric bypass surgery were found to suffer from NES in one study. The disorder is accompanied by what sufferers describe as an uncontrolable desire to eat, akin to addiction, and is often treated chemically.