Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: pasta + 5pm + 0.23  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)

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Should we eat pasta after 5pm?

 The hottest issue in nutrition today is should we eat carbohydrate in the evening or not? According to some of the best-selling diet books - including Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution - we should stay away from pasta and potato, in favour of pure protein, in the evening.

But isn't it fat that makes us fat? Carbohydrate, say many, is a source of energy (that's nutritious in its whole state) and only fattening in excess.

Atkins's mantle (the man himself recently died) seems to have been grasped by British fitness-and-diet expert Joanna Hall, who has created the Carb Curfew diet in a new book.

Whereas the approach of Atkins is high protein/low carbohydrate, Hall's suggestion is that, after 5pm, we steer clear of starchy carbohydrate - that's pasta, potatoes, bread, rice and cereals; instead, vegetables (a type of carbohydrate), fruit (which Atkins bans) and protein should form the evening meal.

The science in the books is very believable - so is our current nutrition guideline out of date, or are we being taken for a risky ride? We assess the major claims from the anticarbohydrate books ...

CLAIM: Avoiding starchy carbohydrate after 5pm will boost energy.

VERDICT: Partly true, says nutritionist Natalie Savona: "The timing is over the top. Not everyone finishes work at 5pm - if you're working until 7pm you might need some instant fuel from starchy carbohydrate. However, if people don't take the time as set in stone, it's solid science-wise and a good idea."

Less starch in the evening, if you are sat on the sofa, can be great for energy levels: big portions of protein and vegetables fill you up without causing bloating and in the morning you're ravenous and want a hearty breakfast.

"That will set you up nicely for the day," says Savona. "Morning is when people should be eating carbohydrate."

CLAIM: The wise dieter can use fat to their advantage.

VERDICT: Extremely delusional, says Catherine Collins at the British Dietetic Association: "Atkins is trying to give some credit to those willing to try the diet."

Eating too much saturated fat can kill you. Atkins encourages his dieters to pile their plates with bacon, butter, prime rib and many other fat-rich products and lectures against foods proven to prevent illness, such as heart disease - fruit, grains and starchy vegetables.

People eating Atkins's way will be consuming twice the recommended daily intake of saturated fat. A wise dieter can use fat to his advantage, as long as that fat is Essential Fatty Acids (found in nuts and oily fish), but this isn't Atkins's only point - he encourages regular consumption of "bad" fat.

CLAIM: As long as two meals are low in fat and carbohydrate, you can eat anything you want for the third (and lose weight).

VERDICT: Wishful thinking, says Collins: "That Indian meal with accompaniments can easily exceed 1,400kcal (three-quarters of the recommended daily intake) and weight loss is not forthcoming this way."

You'll be hungry after the first two meals, which will probably be breakfast and lunch, leaving your energy levels low for most of the day. This is likely to affect work and mood and, eventually, lead to snacking during the day and bingeing at the eat-what-you-want meal. Not the best diet in the world.

CLAIM: Eating pasta (and other starchy carbohydrate) after 5pm will increase sugar cravings.

VERDICT: Silly, says Wendy Doyle at the British Dietetics Association. Hall argues that starchy carbohydrate stimulates the release of the brain neurotransmitter serotonin, which makes us feel lethargic and thus reach for energyboosting sugary snacks or more starch.

Maybe if you eat a big plate of pasta at 5pm this would apply, but does it later on when most people eat?

"No," says Doyle. "You need serotonin to feel settled, ready for bed. Plus, cutting out starchy carbohydrate could lead to sugary snacking because you'll be hungry. Usually, we're less active in the evenings and don't require the immediate energy that starchy carbohydrate delivers. However, we still need energy and filling up. It's fine to eat starchy carbohydrate in the evenings, just don't over-do it."

CLAIM: Carbohydrate makes you fat.

VERDICT: Rubbish, says Collins: "Excessive calorie/energy intake over expenditure makes you fat and it doesn't matter if that intake is carbohydrate or not."

Many carbohydrate foods we eat are fat-rich (biscuits, cakes, crisps and so on) and this makes a big contribution to energy intake. It's not just carbohydrate that's to blame.

The reason carbohydrate has been labelled bad is that it's often the place people go wrong on a diet - if you're cutting out fat and sugar foods, you may eat more carbohydrate, such as pasta, to fill up for comfort.

When eaten in excess, carbohydrate will be stored as fat. Don't pile it on and you'll be fine.

CLAIM: Only eating pasta and vegetables after 5pm will not help you lose weight.

VERDICT: True, says nutritionist Ian Marber of the Food Doctor clinic: "I think it's a good idea to avoid starchy carbohydrate such as pasta in the evening if you're trying to lose weight. Metabolic rate slows naturally whilst we're sleeping and probably does the same in the evening.

"After all, levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, fall naturally through the day, and, physically, we're less active. Thus, Hall's theory is a good one - if we're over-eating starchy carbohydrate and we don't need the energy it creates, that energy will be stored as fat."

If you are active in the evenings, you could simply reduce carbohydrate at lunch and dinner.

CLAIM: Fruit (even one piece), eaten between meals, can reverse the whole metabolic process that's emptying your fat cells.

VERDICT: Foolish, says Collins: "Fat cells 'empty' over a period of time - that is days to weeks when there is prolonged sustained calorie deficit. Taking a 50kcal piece of fruit - full of vitamins that are crucial to health - will hardly make a dent in this process, but taking a bar of chocolate, will. Any time you eat a meal there will be a transient storage situation: fat burning will cease and betweenmeals energy will be used up.

"This is a basic physiological fact about how our body works, twisted to make it sound like something you want to avoid like the plague. Many people don't know a lot about the functioning of the body, so they believe all this pseudo-science."