Thread: Eating before bed affect sleep?

I eat sweets directly before bedtime without any problems. I avoid foods that make me feel bloated, are spicy, or contain caffeine.

it was spicyish. and i dont mind something small but if its like dinner before bed i feel to uncomfortable to sleep. pet peeve or whatever to call it.

It's suggested that food isn't digested as efficiently when eaten before bed because your body is tired and may cause more gas, bloating, heartburn, etc. I personally think this is nonsense. Digestion is an unconscious act and works just fine when you are snoozing. I almost never eat directly before bed but when I do there is no difference. It depends on the food though.

I usually will eat something light before going to bed. Nothing heavy. But i honestly pref a nice cold drink before bed. usually water , juice, and such to relax the body. Helps me to go to sleep faster

Eating before bed makes no difference to me, although a change of diet causes me to have a more restless sleep and can have a negative effect on my recall.

I usually sleep longer and better on a full stomach. I have heard that sumo wrestlers eat lots then go to sleep after as a way to gain weight.

Originally Posted by Eonnn

I usually sleep longer and better on a full stomach. I have heard that sumo wrestlers eat lots then go to sleep after as a way to gain weight.

That's because after around 18:00 your metabolism slows down and obviously during sleep it's at its slowest.

This is a myth, I've never been directly affected by what food I ate. The only pathway from your stomach to your brain conveys whether you're hungry or not. It doesn't give you bad dreams just because you had a spicy curry. It just doesn't work that way but a lot of people think it does.

My experience: Avoid extremity. For me its bad if i am completely empty, and is bad if I am totally full. This is really working to: If you are hungry you will sllep more easy on your right side, and if you was eating before bed its a better sleep on left side...this is some ayurvedic stuff and works for me reliably.

thanks guys. some confusion i think im seeing. Im not worried about bad dreams and stuff happening, i was wondering if it affected your quality of sleep, like if it made you sleep more restlessly and stuff, and wake up more tired. but these answers definitely help.

Chinese medicine has suggested for more than 1000 years that eating a full meal before bed is not so good for your health--probably for the reasons you have already noticed. For those who say that digestion is wholly unconscious and therefore not susceptible to being disrupted by a change in brain activity and metabolism, I would disagree. If metabolism is lower, the digestion process will be slower. Whether or not this is bad, I'm not sure, but I avoid eating before bed unless I'm very hungry.

Thanks three cat. I am with you on this on. I try not to eat, even if i feel a little bit hungry, but sometimes i have no choice but to eat late with things that come up and keep me out late, and i usually stay up longer than usually before going to bed in that case. sometimes a small snack if im pretty hungry, but usually go to bed.