Hunger at night

[RiverSong]

Sorry if this is the wrong place but I can't see which board to ask questions on before you start the Whole30.

I read the book and it said that being hungry after dinner is something that should go away with a better diet.

I am starting my Whole 30 on wednesday, but I already have a huge headstart as I've been grain free for over a year and sugar free for over a month. The Whole 30 (for me) will mainly be cutting out dairy and peanuts (the only legume I eat anymore). A few other tweaks (such as ditching the occasional seed oil) and I'm also cutting eggs for the month just because I do suspect I have a problem with them.

But the thing is, even grain and sugar free, eating plenty of healthy fat, meat, produce, I still get hunger cravings almost every single night. During the day I can go hours between meals, but at night time I can't.

Is it possible that cutting dairy could be the answer for me? I'm asking because I really thought it was a sugar and grain thing from what I've read online and in ISWF.

[Tom Denham]

Dairy causes spikes in insulin which can influence feeling of hunger, but you might still have issues with hunger at night. I delay supper until 7 or 7:30 at night so that I have just 2 hours left before bed time after eating, but I still wake up at night some nights. Like last night. My last meal was between 7 and 7:30 - 2 big pieces of bratwurst with a generous portion of stir-fried red cabbage and tomatoes. Then I woke up hungry at 3 AM. I tried to get back asleep and failed. I got up and ate a baked sweet potato with walnut pieces and dried cranberries and went right back to sleep. This doesn't happen every night, but 2 or 3 nights per week is common. And I've been eating Whole30 since 2010.

[cdauk]

I could have wrote this above post. I too had been gluten free/sugar free. My biggest problem was always snacking at night. I am on Day 9 of whole30 and I usually am not hungry at night much. If I make sure I eat enough protein at dinner, I am usually not hungry. I am up a lot at night with a small nursing child, so not being up is not the issue (unfortunately) Good luck to you! I am guessing you will find it easier to do than others because you have a headstart. I honestly think its been a fairly easy transition and rarely have cravings. I did however, have some nauseousness for awhile, so beware. I think its normal. Tom is a great resource. He is good.

[RiverSong]

Thanks! I guess I'll see if it's the dairy or just me.

[RiverSong]

I just wanted to update. I think it was the dairy. I've only got 4 days under my belt but it's the first four days in . . . . forever . . . that I haven't been hungry and foraging through the fridge every evening. Seriously, it was the first day that I felt a difference.

I was already grain and sugar free and yes, I have also cut eggs (for myself), being more strict about legumes (I ate too much peanut butter) and seed oils (canola mayo - mmmm!) but I think that dairy is the only one that really affects insulin, am I right?

I had a HUGE problem with sugar. There are also a lot of alcoholics and diabetics (mostly type 2, some gestational, one type 1) in my family. While I seemed to have dogded that gene, I still had a big problem with binging on sugar or grain foods. I went three entire months without sugar last year and then decided I was ok to eat it "in moderation" and it was like a week and I was back to full on binging on ice cream and chocolate (I at least never went back to grains!). I was like an alcoholic who thought she was ok to have just one beer and ended up back to downing quarts of vodka.

My blood tests have always been fine and I've never developed anything (I'm 42), but just given the facts of what foods make me binge and what foods make me hungry after I eat them, I think it's an insulin thing. So yeah, I think it was the dairy. Especially since I had already noticed that liquid or soft dairy (like full fat greek yogurt) always ended up with me going out of control and eating huge amounts (like the entire large container of the previously mentioned unsweetened, 10% greek yogurt in one day!).

For now I'm even avoiding ghee since I managed to find some well raised fat back to render and I'm cooking with that. I think when the Whole30 is over I'll add back in ghee and then maybe butter and see if those do anything. I'll think about if I miss hard cheeses enough to test them, but I think it's obvious I shouldn't be eating yogurt or cream or any of those oh so delicious but binge triggering, insulin spiking foods.