Is eating before bed good for you, or bad? This is the question that nutritionist and dietitians all over the world are finding hard to answer. Experiments on the effects of eating before bed have been carried out, but the results have always been mixed. Eating before going to bed is both good and bad depending on the time before sleeping and what you eat. I will try to explain this nutritional controversy in this article.
Is eating before bed good
The good
Eating before bed is good for your health. Yes. You read right. It is healthy to eat before bed. For starters, sleep will be hard to come by if you have an empty stomach. Therefore, eating before going to bed fills your stomach and makes it easy for you to fall asleep. That aside, let’s now look at what you eat. If you take sleep-inducing foods and drinks such as milk, yogurt, and avocado, you are on the right track for sound sleep. However, if you take foods and drinks that are known to interfere with the normal sleeping patterns, prepare for a sleepless night. You have also heard it being said that snacking is a bad eating habit. However, you are allowed to take a bedtime snack, as long as you choose from this list: bananas, eggs, and cherries. Add more snacks to this list as long as you follow the same trend. Once you have identified the best snack for you, never miss it. It will boost your overall health.
The bad
There are just as many disadvantages of eating before bed as there are advantages. We just noted that sleep loves a full stomach. However, this full stomach is the reason why you face a high risk of obesity. With a full stomach at night and nothing to do with it, the food is simply stored as fats under your skin. Wait a minute. Before we even talk about weight gain, what is the stomach full of? Spicy food is not good for you before going to bed. It makes sleeping difficult. According to these guys , having a good night’s sleep is very important to your health. Therefore, if your stomach is full of spicy food before you go to bed, you will hardly get enough sleep. Additionally, if it is full of alcohol, tea or coffee, expect sleep problems.
Overall verdict
In the spirit of taking all your three daily meals religiously for good health and longevity, you should eat before going to bed. We are therefore in agreement that you should take your supper. Don’t skip it. The bone of contention here is the timing, the size of the meal and its components. First, supper should be the smallest meal of the day. It should be light but balanced meal. It is also advisable to take the meal a few hours before going to bed, not just before going to bed. If you take your supper 3-4 hours before bedtime, you will give your body enough time to digest and synthesize the meal. This means that you can empty your bowels before sleeping so that you don’t have bowels-related sleep interruptions. There is also nothing wrong with taking a snack just before going to bed, as long as it is a healthy snack.