People have been led to believe that eating before bed causes metabolic disturbances and will make them gain fat,” says FSU nutrition researcher Michael Ormsbee. He tested that claim by studying women weightlifters that consumed protein shakes during the daytime or before bedtime.

Ormsbee found that overnight belly fat metabolism and whole-body fat burn were not affected whether the women consumed protein during the day or before bed. Ormsbee and the team hope this research and future follow-up studies will help discredit myths about women’s nighttime eating.

• Michael Ormsbee