One study finds that eating cottage cheese before going to bed can result in weight loss

According to a new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, eating cottage cheese before going to sleep can help you lose weight.

The results suggest that low-calorie foods stimulate metabolism, muscle and general well-being, even while you sleep.

Although eating before falling asleep usually increases the risk of excessive fat formation around the waistline, high protein foods do not have the same effect.

Eating only two tablespoons of cottage cheese half an hour before bedtime could improve your health and be a nutritious substitute for sweet snacks.

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"Until now, we thought that whole foods would act in the same way as the additional protein data, but we had no concrete evidence," says Professor Michael Ormsbee, of Florida State University.

"It's important because it adds to the literature that says whole foods work as well as protein supplementation and gives people pre-sleep nutrition options that go beyond powders and shaker bottles."

Cottage cheese contains a muscle building protein called casein. Because of its slow release characteristics, it can release essential amino acids steadily throughout the night.

For their investigation, scientists recruited 10 women in their twenties. Participants received 30 grams of cottage cheese 30 to 60 minutes before falling asleep. The volunteers had dinner two hours before.

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The researchers measured the energy expenditure at rest – the amount of energy used during sleep – of young women waking up between 5 and 8 in the morning.

The team found that when participants received a casein shake just before sleep, their metabolism was as effective as when eating cottage cheese.

"These data suggest that the metabolic response of whole food proteins does not differ from the metabolic response of liquid proteins," says Professor Ormsbee.

"While protein supplements have absolutely their place, it's important to start collecting food data and understanding the role they can play in these situations," said Samantha Leyh, who was part of research but who is now a dietician at the US Air Obliger.

"Like additive and synergistic effects of vitamins and minerals when they are eaten as whole foods such as fruits or vegetables, whole food sources might follow. .

"Although we can not generalize for all the whole foods because we only used cottage cheese, this research should open the door to future studies doing just that."