Eating the largest meal in the evening seems to cause a much larger rise in insulin than eating earlier. Folk wisdom, of course, also advises to avoid eating large meals in the evening. The reason offered usually is something along the lines of, “If you eat just before bed, you don’t get a chance to burn it off and it will turn to fat.” Maybe that’s not technically true, but perhaps there is something here. Eating late at night seems to be especially problematic for weight gain. This response may have evolved to help us gain fat, which may have had a survival advantage in times past.
