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.
You definitely don't need to go to bed hungry, and there is nothing wrong with a nighttime snack. However, eating a big meal right before bed can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. A large meal that is high in calories causes your body temperature to rise as you digest.
Scientists can't agree on a single set time, but the consensus seems to be within three hours before bedtime. So if you go to bed at 11 p.m., don't eat after 8 p.m. Banishing late night snacks after that time could help alleviate the symptoms of acid reflux disease, too.
Late-night eating can affect hunger hormones and blood sugar and potentially disrupt your sleep.
Recent medical studies have shown that eating between the hours of 12pm-11pm resulted in higher levels of blood glucose, insulin and cholesterol, than eating between the hours of 8am-7pm. So, if your goal is to reduce your body fat or your cholesterol, it may be beneficial to try curbing your late night eating habits.
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.
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.
Your Slow Metabolism:
When you have a slow metabolism, your body doesn't convert food into energy in sufficient quantities. So most of the food you eat is stored in the form of fats. This is the main reason why some people get fat even though they don't eat much.
Plan to eat breakfast within an hour of waking. This way, your breakfast doesn't blend into a mid-morning snack or grazing followed closely by lunch. Lunch should be about four to five hours after breakfast. For example, if you ate breakfast at 7 am, eat lunch between 11 am and noon.
Compared to eating earlier in the day, prolonged delayed eating can increase weight, insulin and cholesterol levels, and negatively affect fat metabolism, and hormonal markers implicated in heart disease, diabetes and other health problems, according to results from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the ...
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.
Can You Gain Weight From Not Eating Enough? Undereating may cause weight gain for some people, but even if it doesn't, it's important not to eat so little that it adversely affects your health. From constipation to immune dysfunction, not eating enough can lead to a host of health issues.
Now a new Yale study suggests that dieting might also keep you mentally sharper. Blood levels of a gut hormone called ghrelin (rhymes with “melon”) rise when the stomach is empty, flooding the brain's eating control center and stimulating neurons that govern appetite.
Overall: It's better to be satisfied than hungry before bed
Not only will hunger pangs prevent you from getting a full night's rest—which can lead to weight gain—but a small snack before bed can actually help boost weight-loss efforts.
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.
Wet hair when sleeping also can cause damage to follicles and result in hair breakage. Skin conditions: Hair follicles under the skin clogged up with sebum or oil can result in acne. As wet hair harbors bacteria, this can also impact the growth of bacteria in the pores.
While it's important to stay hydrated throughout the day, drinking a lot of water before bed can lead to unwanted sleep interruptions that can affect your overall health.
“On a day you don't eat for 24 hours, you're guaranteed to be losing a third or half a pound of non-water weight that's mostly from body fat,” Pilon told Global News.