Is it OK to eat before sleeping?
It is not healthy to be eating right before you sleep as your body’s metabolism rate slows down when you sleep which can cause indigestion and an upset stomach, it can also result in weight gain. However, this should not make you skip any essential meals.
Pros of eating before you go to sleep include losing weight, getting a better nights sleep, and maintaining your blood sugar levels. Some health experts say it is totally okay to eat before bedtime, and it can enhance your sleep or weight loss. A substantial body of research suggests that eating before bed may have a number of side effects, on everything from weight to work performance.
In light of this, it has been suggested that eating in the evening, prior to bed, can negatively impact your health. Depending on what you are eating, and what time of the day, food consumed can disturb your sleep patterns. Our opinion is that depending on what foods you eat, evening snacks may enhance your sleep quality and enhance your weight loss.
One idea is that although eating at night does not necessarily cause weight gain, the effect on weight depends on how you allocate your other calories each day. A study in Obesity added to the confusion, suggesting there might be more going on with evening meals than simply excess calories.
Some studies have shown that eating before going to bed can promote obesity, and several studies have also suggested that eating a high-fat or high-carb meal near bedtime may make it harder to sleep. Eating too close to bedtime may actually hurt your sleep, especially if it is a big food. In addition to these extra calories you do not need, eating too close to sleeptime may lead to digestive discomfort and trouble sleep.
It turns out people who eat close to bedtime are more likely to gain weight, just because the nighttime snack is an additional meal, and thus, extra calories. Eating before bed does not necessarily cause weight gain, but consuming those calorically-dense foods close to bedtime definitely can, and it is best to restrict it.
Eating a small, nutritious snack before you go to sleep may provide the body with the energy needed to handle metabolic functions while you are asleep. As Lisa mentioned, a high-protein snack, coupled with a few carbohydrates, will provide your body with the fuel it needs to properly function during your sleep, and help to facilitate weight loss rather than gain.
For those people who are reassured by food, especially by their evening snack, having a smaller, healthier snack around an hour-and-a-half after dinner may help curb late-night, unplanned eating. Some evidence suggests that, instead of contributing to weight gain, eating a snack before bed can help some people lose weight. Summary It is possible that having a structured nighttime snack can benefit you by making you eat less at night or get a better nights sleep.
You might want to schedule dinner so that there is approximately three hours of time between the final meal and bedtime, in order to support better nighttime sleep. Recap Planning meals to have a few hours in between the last meal and when you lay down may decrease your chances of having heartburn and other issues disrupting sleep.
| What is the best time to have dinner? | Things to avoid before going for sleep |
| The best time to have dinner is 3 hours before you go to sleep. | It is probably best to avoid eating a 600-calorie meal just before going to sleep. |
| It is recommended that you wait about 2-3 hours before going to bed after dinner as it allows the stomach to digest food properly. | Not to consume foods that are high in carbs, as it makes harder for stomach to digest them, which can result in weight gain. |
The best time to have dinner is 3 hours before you go to sleep, which allows the stomach time to digest properly and you can concentrate on getting ready to fall asleep as bedtime approaches. While there is no study that has determined exactly what time we should have dinner, it is probably best to avoid eating a 600-calorie meal just before going to sleep.
If you’re interested in Is It Safe To Eat Too Much, then check out this article!
By dinnertime, you are truly hungry, and will end up eating more calories than you need to (you might also need to have another smaller meal or snack after dinner). This extreme hunger may lead to a cycle whereby you overeat at night, and you are too full the next morning to eat much, then again, overly hungry by the next night (9). This cycle, which can easily result in excessive eating and weight gain, highlights why many individuals need to consume balanced meals throughout the day.
In addition, some studies show that eating late in the evening may make you less likely to have a breakfast – and missing a breakfast can result in being too hungry later in the day and eating too much. Research has debunked the notion that eating late at night leads to worse health outcomes compared with eating earlier in the day. Although there is no clear physiologic reason why eating close to bedtime causes weight gain, multiple studies found evidence that it may.
To learn about Can You Eat Coffee Grounds, then check out my another article.
Summary Eating before bed may cause weight gain due to habits such as eating while watching TV or eating too many extra calories before going to sleep. Conventional wisdom seems to hold that eating before bed is unhealthy, which may make this type of snacking feel like bad behavior. Well, before you think of giving up on your favorite nighttime routine (or a spontaneous midnight picnic), let us look at what the effects of eating before bed might actually be for your health.
Not only is the research not conclusive about what is the best sleep food, there is a debate over whether or not eating too close to bedtime is healthier. The answers to these questions are varied across the board, from nutritionists to personal trainers to sleep experts, and many of those experts do not agree about whether you should be eating before you go to bed. Registered dietitian Mandy Enright, the author of The 30 Minute Weight-Loss Cookbook, says that the media has a lot of misinformation out there about when you should eat, especially when it comes to timing meals.
At the same time, you might hear recommendations warning you not to eat in the evening, since that is not good for digestion, sleep, or your weight. For example, eating a few too many snacks right before you go to sleep watching your favorite movie is sure to harm your sleep quality (not to mention that these habits may cause you to put on unwanted weight). While we recognize there should be no strict rules that limit snacks before bed, there is evidence to suggest eating right before bedtime may actually harm your health when done on a regular basis.
The downsides of eating directly before bed include drowsy sleeping, slower metabolism, eating more, making unhealthy choices, acid reflux, digestive discomfort, and heartburn, as well as medical risks. Among the worst foods to eat before bed are spicy foods, which may be hard to digest and can trigger heartburn, making it hard for you to lay down and relax.
Also, eating late at night may increase your chances of having a heartburn, especially in diabetics, according to research from The Canadian Journal of Diabetes. Many people on the downside of the issue say that eating closer to sleep time may lead to weight gain, heart disease, or elevated blood sugar. The long-held view that starving yourself for two hours between meals and bedtime improves glucose control has been mostly debunked.
While it might not be the best idea for some, consuming food before going to bed can be beneficial to others: It may actually curb late-night eating and help with weight loss. Eating before bed can be totally okay — even good idea — for some people, but it is also dependent on your eating habits during the day, the foods you are eating, and your own individual caloric needs. That is, you should not shy away from eating if you are hungry, because even an upset stomach may make you sleepy.
What happens if I eat before I sleep?
The body’s metabolism can be slowed down when you eat before going to bed. There is a natural slowing down of the body’s functions at night as a way of preparing for sleep, but consuming certain foods, especially those high in carbs, can make it harder to digest them, which can result in weight gain.
Can I sleep 1 hour after eating?
In most cases, it is recommended that you wait about 2-3 hours after you have eaten your dinner before going to bed once you have had it. It provides plenty of time for digestion to take place and for the contents of the gastrointestinal tract to reach the small intestine – reducing the likelihood of various digestive problems symptoms to occur.
What time should I stop eating before bed?
Nutritionists will typically advise you to wait three hours or more between your last meal and going to bed. This permits some digestion to take place and gives your stomach’s contents time to pass into your small intestine.