Women do it, men do it, even raccoons do it: late-night snacking. But while a cuddly animal might not be suffering from the effects of these indulgent little pleasures, it could be having a devastating effect on a part of your body that you don’t often associate with your diet: your skin.
According to researchers, late-night snacking can cause prematurely aged, discolored or acne-ridden skin in a multitude of ways.
The snacks
First and foremost, there’s no late-night snacking without the snacks – starchy, sweet, and everything in between. A 2014 report from Baylor College of Medicine unequivocally ties together skin issues and unhealthy snacks, noting that foods with a high glycemic index, involving high levels of carbohydrates, sugars or fat, lead to “higher serum glucose levels and corresponding elevated levels of insulin.”
While insulin is more commonly known among diabetics as a hormone that regulates glucose, it’s also known to “augment sebum production,” sebum being the white portion of those all-too nasty whiteheads. Insulin also “stimulates adrenal androgen synthesis, and increases androgen bioavailability.” Androgen is a hormone that, in women especially, can be known to cause acne.
The body’s attempt to regulate a spike in blood sugar not only causes acne but also can result in aging. Glycation, which is the body’s way of bonding amino acids in one’s collagen and elastin through glucose and fructose, can be accelerated when one ingests too much sugar. Too much glycation, the study notes, results in “increased stiffness and reduced elasticity.” As glycation is a byproduct of one’s diet almost exclusively, those midnight trips to the pantry aren’t offset by skincare or supplements.
The time of night
The other key component of late-night snacking is that, as one can infer, it happens at night. And much like the rest of your body, your skin would much prefer you were sleeping rather than snacking in the hours after sundown.
In general, sleeping is a time for your body to recover by reducing inflammation. The most visible inflammation can occur in the form of fluid retention, causing puffy eyes and cheeks. And throughout your face, dull, pale skin produced by sleeplessness highlights blood vessels and slows blood circulation in the eye area, LiveScience reports. A facial might help improve the blood flow, but nothing restores your body and skin like a good old-fashioned nap.
In conjunction with the water retention that you’ll sustain by sneaking a salty snack late at night, you could end up looking more haggard, and even less friendly to some.
A study from 2017’s Royal Society Journal measuring sleep deprivation concluded that people are known to “avoid contact with sleep-deprived, or sleepy-looking, individuals, as a strategy to reduce health risk and poor interactions.” Participants in the study reported that they were “less inclined to socialize with individuals who had gotten insufficient sleep.” The sleepless individuals were also rated to be “less attractive,” and “less healthy.”
Hydration
The tricky area of hydration can either make or break your late-night snacking habits and as a result, your skin’s tone, texture and overall vigor.
We all know the benefits of water for your skin – it helps absorb vitamins and minerals while simultaneously flushing toxins out. A 2011 report from the Nutritional Review notes that as your skin contains approximately 30% water, its’ “plumpness, elasticity, and resiliency” can be influenced by hydration. Reduced skin turgor is a result of serious levels of dehydration, and overall water intake, particularly among those who are consistently dehydrated, “can improve skin thickness and density as measured by sonogram.”
However, one must remember to drink water at optimal times to adequately utilize hydration against food cravings. Drinking water too early in the evening can leave you with a hungry, empty stomach when nighttime comes. Without proper water intake before bedtime, you can also feel dehydrated upon waking up, giving your skin a cracked, oily appearance in the mornings.
Drinking your daily recommended amount of water too late in the evening can also lead to late-night runs to the bathroom – perhaps past the refrigerator, at a time when you’d already be asleep, merely dreaming about sugarplums instead of passing them longingly in the night. A good compromise is to drink plenty of water throughout the day, and then keep a glass of water by your bedtime table at night, in case you wake up parched.
The lack of routine
The final way that feeding yourself after midnight can give you a Gremlin-like appearance in the morning is that your impulsive eating might be a sign that you’re lacking a nighttime routine, and consequently, a skin routine.
Your late-night cravings could be a result of any number of things; lack of daytime hunger, boredom, depression or just wanting to treat yourself after a long, exhausting day. But if you’re indulging to the point of harming your appearance, it might be a sign that you’ve been neglecting your own health and wellness. The best way to give yourself the right kind of rewards for all your hard work is to invest in looking and feeling better about yourself – and that starts with your skin.
Whether you’re a man or a woman, a nighttime skincare ritual can grant you a few minutes of solace before bed, time that will ultimately improve your appearance in the daylight hours. It’s as easy as buying a drugstore face wash and moisturizer and giving yourself an easy, relaxing facial massage.
Just the act of having a wind-down ritual before bed can classically condition your brain into preparing for bedtime rather than aimlessly and impulsively indulging in snack time.