Eating Before Bed

You've had those nights where you stay up later than usual and find yourself hungry. So you go to the fridge, grab whatever you have and chow down, then head to bed. You don't think anything of it, but by eating right before bed you are harming your sleep and your health at the same time.

Why does eating before bed hurt your sleep? When you eat before bed you can develop insomnia. Insomnia is the most common sleep complaint among Americans, and often times it is caused because you ate too much before you went to bed.

Eating before bed also causes heartburn. Lying down after you eat causes the acidic contents of what you ate to go back up into your esophagus, creating a burning sensation in your chest.

You might notice weight gain if you continuously eat before bed. Oftentimes what you eat before bed is not healthy and is snack foods such as chips and cookies. It's easy to overeat these snack foods, causing you to gain more weight.

You can avoid these problems not by going to bed hungry. Having a light evening snack that has carbohydrates and protein will help to promote calmness instead of harming your sleep. Avoid highly spicy and garlic-flavored foods later in the day and do not eat highly acidic or fatty foods to avoid heartburn.

Eating before bed does not mean you have to go to bed hungry. By watching what you eat and avoiding certain types of food before bed you will have less of a risk of disrupting your sleep and harming your overall health.