Advice about avoiding late meals generally falls within these timeframes. For example, Oura (another sleep wearable) recommends having your last big meal at least three hours before going to bed, or about 8 p.m. at the very latest if you go to bed at 11.
If you want to control your blood sugar levels, having an early dinner by 7 PM is better so you can sleep by 10 PM and wake up after a restful 8 to 10 hours of sleep.
Give yourself about three hours between when you eat your last meal and bedtime. Having a small evening snack that is low in carbohydrates and calories is usually fine.
Eating late in the night leaves the body on a 'high alert' state, which interferes with the circadian rhythm. It also prevents our body from powering down. If on the other hand, food is taken earlier, it is not only digested better, you sleep well and wake up energised too.
It's best to stop eating about three hours before going to bed. That allows plenty of time for your body to digest the last food you ate so it won't disrupt your sleep, but leaves a small enough window before sleep that you won't go to bed feeling hungry.
Canadeo, who says the best time to eat dinner according to several studies is between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., agrees that leaning on the earlier side is better. “Researchers found that when eating earlier, they had better blood sugar regulation and improved fat metabolism, which is a factor in fat storage,” Canadeo says.
Experts say that having a late-night meal keeps the body on 'high alert' at a time where it should be winding down, which can have dangerous implications for our health. Researchers have now said that we should never eat within two hours of our bedtime, and ideally, nothing after 7pm.
When Should Dinner be Served? We recommend planning to eat dinner at about four to five hours after lunch. Keep in mind, if your dinner time fall in between the 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. timeframe, you are going to be reaching the last hour of your body's heightened metabolic rate.
What Are the Healthiest Late-Night Snacks? As the above snack ideas suggest, fruits, vegetables, yogurt, nuts, and hummus are all healthy late-night snack options. Due to their high nutritional value, whether that be through protein, vitamins, or probiotics, these snacks will certainly support a good night's rest.
Besides the extra calories, eating too close to bedtime can have other health implications such as digestive issues. When sleeping, our digestion naturally slows down as our metabolism enters a resting state. Lying down in bed immediately after eating can lead to symptoms such as indigestion, acid reflux and heartburn.
Dining Late at Night
Aside from causing belly fat, eating late and reclining on a full stomach increases your risk of developing acid reflux and indigestion, since gravity is no longer able to pull everything in your tummy straight down.
The 12-hour fast method generally works for beginners because of its small fasting window. You may perform the fasting at night while you are asleep and just consume a relatively fewer amount of calories compared with your usual ones. One good example of this is if you choose 7pm to 7am as your fasting schedule.
Eating all meals between 7am and 3pm at least five days per week can drive weight loss while lifting a person's mood and energy levels, according to a study in people who are obese. Intermittent fasting is an increasingly popular weight-loss tool.
Lunch is generally eaten between 12:00 noon and 2:00pm. Many people eat out, grabbing a quick meal or snack such as a bowl of noodles, Korean pancakes, or Chinese food. Dinner is generally eaten between 6:00pm and 8:00pm. It generally an informal meal with meat or fish, rice.
Usually dinnertime is 6– 8pm. For restaurants the busiest time is from 7pm. Most restaurants close around 10pm. But in snack streets, small stalls offer snacks like noodles or dumplings or barbeque till late into the night.
According to Dr Mosley, the best time to eat is before 8PM, that is hours before bedtime. He said, "Try and stop eating by 8pm and then not eat anything with calories after that."
This phenomenon is called “starvation mode,” and while your body isn't actually starving, it will naturally hold onto whatever calories it receives in an effort to help you maintain your energy balance.
It's common to hear the phrase “don't eat after 8 p.m.” when you're trying to lose weight. But when you think about it in terms of calories, the math doesn't work out. As long as you stick to your goal and eat fewer calories than you burn, you should lose weight.
Calories consumed at night won't change your metabolism or count more than calories consumed during the day. Weight gain and weight loss comes down to a simple math equation, explains Day. “Too many calories taken in versus not enough expended on any given day, regardless of the time, will lead to weight gain.”
New study provides experimental evidence that late eating may increase hunger, obesity risk. Obesity afflicts approximately 42 percent of the U.S. adult population and contributes to the onset of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cancer, and other conditions.
Timing and Weight-Loss Takeaways
Overall, the takeaway here is this: while it's highly individualized, some general guidelines suggest that eating breakfast by 9 a.m., lunch between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., and dinner at least four hours before bed can set your body up for optimal digestion and absorption of nutrients.