Why shouldn't I eat before bed?

[Rasel Ali]

This depends on the quantity and complexity of the food. Are you eating a giant complex meal filled with difficult to digest compounds right before heading to sleep or are you snacking on a small amount of easy and quick digestible foods like a piece of fruit?


here is evidence that eating right before bed may lead to an over consumption of calories thus leading to weight gain. Some people experience higher levels of ghrelin (hunger hormone) at night and they tend to eat a significant amount of calories as a late night snack. However, there is also evidence that eating a small snack before bed lead to weight loss in some participants.

So in terms of weight gain/weight loss it’s simple, eat too much before bed (or at any time) and you'll gain weight. Eat too little (at any time of day) and you’ll lose weight.

The problem arises when sleep quality and duration is measured. In a study done in 2020, participants either stopped eating 3 hours before bed or ate within 3 hours before bed. What the study found was that participants who ate within 3 hours before bed a 40% increased chance of waking up throughout the night, slept on for a shorter duration and it took them longer to fall asleep.


Eating a large meal close to bedtime is going to disrupt the stages of sleep especially the REM stage and therefore negatively impact your recovery the following day. This is mostly due to the fact your body might divert resources to digestion and away from the restorative aspects of sleep.

With sleep being the hot topic it is at moment, it’s undeniable that having good sleep hygiene is imperative to having an overall healthy lifestyle.

With all that in mind, if you did have to snack in the later part of the evening I would stick to something that's relatively quick and easy to digest like a whey protein shake or some fruit to minimise any negative affects that may occur from eating late.


Source: https://www.quora.com