The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a whole-food protein (cottage cheese, CC) consumed before sleep on next-morning resting energy expenditure (REE), RER and appetite compared with an isoenergetic/isonitrogenous casein protein (CP) supplement and placebo (PL) in active women. In a beverage-blinded, randomised, cross-over design, ten active women (age, 23·1 (sd 1·9) years; body fat, 22·0 (sd 4·6) %) consumed pre-sleep CC (30 g of protein, 10 g of carbohydrate and 0 g of fat) or energy- and protein-matched liquid CP or PL (0 kJ). Participants arrived at 18.00 hours for an overnight stay in the laboratory. At 30–60 min before normal bed time (2 h post standard meal), participants consumed CC, CP or PL before measurement of REE. Upon waking (05.00–08.00 hours), REE was repeated and subjective appetite was recorded. Statistical analyses were conducted using repeated-measures ANOVA (SPSS). Significance was accepted at P≤0·05. There were no significant differences in acute REE (CC, 7217 (sd 1368); CP, 7188 (SD 895); PL, 7075 (sd 1108) kJ/d, P=0·95), acute RER (0·79 (sd 0·05), P=0·56), morning REE (CC, 5840 (sd 1225); CP, 5694 (sd 732); PL, 5991 (sd 903) kJ/d, P=0·79) or morning RER (0·77 (sd 0·03), P=0·52). Subjective measures of appetite were not different between groups. In active women, pre-sleep consumption of CC does not alter REE or RER more than a CP or PL beverage. These data suggest that the metabolic response from whole-food protein do not differ from the metabolic response of liquid protein.

The present study investigated whether whey (WH) protein, casein (CAS) protein or a carbohydrate placebo (PLA) consumed 30 min before sleep could acutely alter appetite or cardiometabolic risk the following morning. A total of forty-four sedentary overweight and obese women (BMI: 25·7–54·6 kg/m2) completed this stratified, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (WH: n 16, age 27·4 (sd 5·0) years; CAS: n 15, age 30·3 (sd 8·1) years; PLA: n 13, age 28·5 (sd 7·2) years). The participants came to the laboratory at baseline (visit 1) and again in the morning after night-time ingestion of either protein or PLA (visit 2). Visit 2 was conducted at least 48 h after visit 1. During visits 1 and 2, the following parameters were measured: appetite (hunger, satiety and desire to eat); resting metabolism; blood lipid and glucose levels; the levels of insulin, leptin, C-reactive protein, insulin-like growth factor-1, cortisol and adiponectin. Data were analysed using repeated-measures ANOVA. No group × time interactions were observed for the measured variables; however, a main effect of time was observed for increased satiety (P= 0·03), reduced desire to eat (P= 0·006), and increased insulin levels (P= 0·004) and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance values (P= 0·01) after the consumption of either protein or PLA. The results of the present study reveal that night-time consumption of protein or carbohydrate by sedentary overweight and obese women improves their appetite measures but negatively affects insulin levels. Long-term studies are needed to evaluate the effects of chronic consumption of low-energy snacks at night on body composition and cardiometabolic risk.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether whey protein (WP), casein protein (CP), carbohydrate (CHO) or a non-energy-containing placebo (PLA) consumed before sleep alters morning appetite and resting energy expenditure (REE) in active men. A total of eleven men (age: 23·6 (sem 1·0) years; body fat: 16·3 (sem 2·5) %) participated in this randomised, double-blind, cross-over study. A single dose of WP (30 g), CP (30 g), CHO (33 g) or PLA was consumed 30 min before sleep, and each trial was separated by 48–72 h. The next morning (05.00–08.00 hours), measurements of satiety, hunger and desire to eat and REE were taken. After a 30 min equilibration period, REE in the supine position was measured for 60 min. An analysis of 10 min mean intervals over the final 50 min of the measurement period was conducted. Statistical analyses were conducted using repeated-measures ANOVA for metabolic variables, and a one-way ANOVA was used for measuring changes in appetite markers. Group differences were examined by Tukey's post hoc analysis. There were no significant differences in appetite measures among the groups. There was a main group effect for REE. The predicted REE was significantly greater after consumption of the WP (8151 (sem 67) kJ/d), CP (8126 (sem 67) kJ/d) and CHO (7988 (sem 67) kJ/d) than after that of the PLA (7716 (sem 67) kJ/d, P <0·0001). There were no significant differences between the WP and CP groups in any metabolic measurements. Night-time consumption of WP, CP or CHO, in the hours close to sleep, elicits favourable effects on the next-morning metabolism when compared with that of a PLA in active young men.