Active Low-Carber Forums - View Single Post - Late Night Meals & Energy Transfer??

I think I like my answer in the previous thread Doreen linked to better.

Ketoneman said (in that other thread):

Quote:

The impression I've had from Taube's book, which I've read twice, a long time ago, was that you would automatically burn stored energy over night if you ate a very low carb diet, and that so long at you got good sleep, you could eat an unrestricted amount of very low carb food and either continue to lose weight, or not gain weight.

I remember Taubes saying something about it being normal to be in a positive energy balance during the day, when we eat, and in a negative energy balance at night when we sleep (and, usually, don't eat).

Here's a quote from GCBC (from the free sample portion on googlebooks);

Quote:

While rats are sleeping, they progressively mobilize more and more fatty acids from their adipose tissue and use these fatty acids for fuel. "The restitution of these stored fats and their utilization to cover an important part of the current metabolism reduces the concomitant requirement for an external supply of calories by food intake," Le Magnen wrote. When he used insulin to suppress this mobilization of free fatty acids, the rats ate immediately. Fatty acids released from the adipose tissue, Le Magnen concluded, simply replace or "spare" the available glucose, and, by doing so, delay the onset of hunger and the impetus to feed. The liberal availability of these fatty acids in the blood promotes satiety and inhibits hunger.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=Xd...20sleep&f=false

It's not just about calories burned during sleep--because, of course, it's always possible to eat enough food to compensate during the waking hours. During the sleeping hours, of course there is that negative balance--again, because you're sleeping, not eating. This bit;

Quote:

The liberal availability of these fatty acids in the blood promotes satiety and inhibits hunger.

is perhaps true not only during the fast, since a ketogenic diet is designed to come as close to an approximation of the fasted metabolism as you can come while still eating food. So added to the usual negative energy balance during the night, you have a decreased positive energy balance during the day--hopefully resulting in an overall net negative energy balance for the 24 hour period.