Why do we eat dessert?

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Submitted ⁨⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Swaus01@piefed.social⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

Why eat a sugary meal right before going to bed?

Food high in sugar is nutritionally good for short burst energy, and if not used up, that energy is stored as fat. Since people generally go to sleep after meals are they not wasting this potential short-release energy yield?
Let’s consider instead that we eat dessert specifically to put on fat. Well, this may have been desirable as an outcome historically, but for a long time - maybe 200 years or so - humans have NOT wanted to build fat. Also - it doesn’t work. We burn fat during sleep, so those ‘dessert gains’ disappear.
Now let us visit the simplest answer of “it tastes good” - well in that case, why do we eat dessert when we do? We could eat sugary snack at any point of the day - a dessert-lunch might make a lot of sense! So let me repeat myself:

Why eat a sugary meal right before going to bed?

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schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

why do we eat dessert when we do?

speak for yourself?

In some cultures, such as mine (Austria, but also in Germany) it’s most common for the main (hot) meal to be eaten around the middle of the day, and if dessert is eaten, it’s with that meal. In the evening we usually just eat a relatively small amount of cold food (ham sandwiches or similar) and no dessert.

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- Swaus01@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  That’s so surprising to me. German efficiency at play
  
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  - schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    It’s just the normal way of doing things I grew up with, only much later in life did I find out that this isn’t normal in all cultures.
    
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jimmy90@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
i think sugar and coffee at the end of a meal helps with digestion and gives your brain a little energy boost while your body is busy processing the meal

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Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
It’s eaten after dinner, but that is still usually a few hours before bed time for most people.

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PapaStevesy@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
No one is forcing you to eat sweets right before bed, and that’s not what dessert is anyway. Dessert follows the entree, it’s part of the meal. If you decide to eat dinner right before bed, that’s on you.

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starlinguk@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
If you don’t like dessert, don’t eat dessert. I don’t. I also eat at 6.30 and go to bed at 11.

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BlackLaZoR@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Sugary parts of the meal are digested more slowly when combined with other stuff (proteins, fats). And we eat dessert at the end because rapid surge of glucose in your bloodstream blocks hunger. You’re losing appetite for main course if you start from dessert.

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- Swaus01@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Interesting, i always thought sweet food “ruins appetite” just by raising your digestive system’s expectations
  
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Gold_E_Lox@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
yummy

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- Swaus01@piefed.social ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Then perish.
  
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  - BassTurd@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    We’re all dying. Might as well enjoy the ride.
    
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  - Gold_E_Lox@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    i had just woken up when i posted this comment so I apologise for being flippant.
    
    actually reading the post, point 3 is perfect. i actually do have “lunch-dessert” and ive had it all my life, never really having “dinner-desert”
    
    so honestly, i like the question. “how did a sweet snack before bed become a cultural norm in the western world, and why/how did it beat out another, more optimal, point in the day?”
    
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  - PunnyName@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Gonna happen anyway.
    
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radix@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
If food were just about cold, hard, logical choices based on nutrition alone, we’d all just eat Soylent Red and Yellow.

People trade long-term detriment for short-term enjoyment all the time.

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- Swaus01@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  
  If food were just about cold, hard, logical choices based on nutrition alone, we’d all just eat Soylent Red and Yellow.
  
  False.
  
  Yes your principle is right though. I just wonder how the society evolved to like eating sugar as the last meal of the day
  
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Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Why are you on social media when studies have shown it’s bad for your mental health?

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- Swaus01@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  This isn’t an argument byt a ponderance, and people can engage in one unhealthy thing but not another, without compromising their morals/belief system.
  
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NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Ice cream makes for a perfect breakfast food, fite me lmao

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Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

right before going to bed?

Nobody really should do that part of it.

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RegularJoe@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
It starts with libations and food offerings.

Sweets were fed to the gods in ancient Mesopotamia and ancient India[7] and other ancient civilizations.[8] Herodotus mentions that Persian meals featured many desserts, and were more varied in their sweet offerings than the main dishes

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dessert#History

The Romans continued the practice.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Roman_cuisine#Desse…

back to the main dessert article:

Europeans began to manufacture sugar in the Middle Ages, and more sweet desserts became available.[14] Even then sugar was so expensive usually only the wealthy could indulge on special occasions. The first apple pie recipe was published in 1381;[15] The earliest documentation of the term cupcake was in “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats” in 1828 in Eliza Leslie’s Receipts cookbook.[16]

And then there’s this guy:

Evidence for the domestication of the cacao tree exists as early as 5300 BP in South America, in present-day southeast Ecuador by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture, before it was introduced to Mesoamerica.[8] It is unknown when chocolate was first consumed as opposed to other cacao-based drinks, and there is evidence the Olmecs, the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization, fermented the sweet pulp surrounding the cacao beans into an alcoholic beverage.[9][10]

Chocolate was extremely important to several Mesoamerican societies,[11] and cacao was considered a gift from the gods by the Mayans and the Aztecs.[12][13]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate#History

Spongebob selling chocolates

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- Swaus01@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Thank you so much for the detailed answer which considers the entire scope of human history. Much insight into different cultures.
  
  In the 80s it was rare to see people drinking water, except for “health food nuts”. It was far more common to see soft drinks/sodas. Over the years, society has become more accepting of drinking water.
  
  This is very interesting to think about
  
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OriginEnergySux@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
After a long hard day working at a shitty corporation, a yummy meal isnt enough. I like that little extra yum yum before bed coz it makes me feel happy. I like my vices, even though i know they are bad so i try to not go overboard

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- Swaus01@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  That’s a good answer - eating it for the dopamone rather than the sugar or fat
  
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TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I think it’s more cultural as it’s not uniform globally. I don’t care much for dessert as a concept, but I love a piece of cold fruit, like an orange, strawberry or melon after dinner. I find it helps reset the mouth after a flavorful meal. And I’ll usually have a cup of tea with it.

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Iconoclast@feddit.uk ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I rarely do. I don’t understand the point of it. I just ate and now you want me to eat more? If anything - we should’ve started with the dessert.

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ada@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Your first two options contradict each other

1) It adds fat 2) It doesn’t add fat, because your body burns up fat when you sleep

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geekwithsoul@piefed.social ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Part of it is that eating something sweet can relax the muscles around the stomach. So after a full meal, in addition to the attraction of eating something sweet in general, it makes you feel less stuffed.

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- Swaus01@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Rare fact drop. I like this answer. Makes me want to eat more desserr from now on 😈
  
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Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I LOVE dessert foods, but I’m not a fan of dessert after a meal. Most meals I experience are over portioned as it is, there’s no need to add the least nutritional thing on top of it. To me it just seems like “let’s take the most enjoyable foods and eat them at the least enjoyable time.”

If we are having dessert at my house, which is typically reserved for special occasions, it is almost always an hour or so after we eat the meal.

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PunnyName@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Not everyone eats sugary meals before bed. Likely a very rare thing, and also bad for your health.

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