For many people, the ideal nighttime snack may consist of a simple 150-calorie option that is high in nutrients. One study showed that consuming a low-calorie carbohydrate or protein. View Source snack 30 minutes before sleep helped boost metabolism in the morning.
A small snack before bedtime can help ensure you're not hungry when trying to sleep, however. Dr. Singh says a small snack 30 to 40 minutes before bed is fine if you feel a little hungry.
Experts recommend waiting at least three hours after you've eaten to go to bed. This allows your body time to digest your food so you're not up at night with an upset stomach, indigestion, or acid reflux. And it helps you stay asleep. Don't forego a meal to follow this rule.
3 hours before bed: No more food or alcohol. 2 hours before bed: No more work. 1 hour before bed: No more screen time (shut off all phones, TVs and computers). 0: The number of times you'll need to hit snooze in the AM.
Don't Go to Bed Hungry
While we encourage you to avoid late-night snacking, we also discourage you from going to bed while hungry. Your body constantly needs energy to function, even during sleep. Going to bed without a last meal means your body has less energy to rejuvenate and repair itself.
Lying down after eating can cause indigestion due to increased stomach acid. In case of GERD, you should avoid lying down for 3 hours after eating. In contrast, you should lie down immediately after eating for 1 hour or longer when postprandial hypotension occurs.
Usually, it is advised that you wait for about 2-3 hours before going to bed once you have had your dinner. This provides ample time for digestion and the contents in your stomach to move into the small intestine – and reduces the likelihood of various digestive problem symptoms.
How Long Before Bed Should You Stop Eating? While estimates vary, most experts recommend eating a meal two to four hours before bedtime. People who eat meals well ahead of bedtime have enough time to properly digest their food.
Tryptophan helps improve sleep by helping make melatonin and serotonin. Pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds also contain tryptophan. Sprinkling pumpkin seeds on your oats or yogurt give an added crunchy texture. Cashews and walnuts are also considered good nut options for sleep.
Carbohydrate-rich foods like toast trigger insulin production. This induces sleep by speeding up the release of tryptophan, a chemical that helps to relax the body and send it off to sleep. Like toast, milk releases serotonin, another great body relaxer.
Snacks for Sleepiness
Certain nutrients and hormones help promote sleep. Tryptophan, found in turkey and fish, promotes serotonin production. Melatonin (found in dairy and cherries) makes you sleepy, potassium (found in bananas) and magnesium (also found in bananas and almonds) help promote muscle relaxation.
According to Lauren Popeck, RD, a dietitian at Orlando Health, Greek yogurt is perfect for bedtime, because it contains the sleep-inducing chemical tryptophan. And because it's such a rich source of protein, Greek yogurt can also help you avoid that same glucose spike.
Elon Musk says he's upped his sleep to 6 hours per night—and that his old routine hurt his brain. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, speaks with CNBC on May 16th, 2023.
"The overall best is if you can wake up naturally because you're done sleeping," he said. On the other hand, if you're waking up early on just a few hours of sleep, you should probably try and squeeze in some more shuteye.