Plenty of medical assumptions have been passed down through generations, but not all of them are true. As science advances and new discoveries are made, misunderstandings are quashed, and new information becomes known.
There are plenty of reasons why so many of us associate eating before bed with negative health outcomes. Putting on weight, regulating your blood sugar, or even giving your stomach a break – plenty of medical explanations underpin this myth’s virality. It’s common to accept not eating before bed as good sleep hygiene practice, but let’s find out exactly why.
Eating before bed can increase the risk of obesity
Unfortunately, there might be a grain of truth to this one. According to Harvard Medical School, the time we eat significantly impacts our energy expenditure, appetite and molecular pathways in body fat1.
In their 2022 study, participants who ate at a later time during the night had increased hunger levels the morning after and burned calories at a slower rate than those who ate earlier. Plus, the former group also exhibited greater levels of fat tissue gene expression, which promotes fat growth.
In other words, not only does that late-night snack increase our body fat, but also contributes to bad eating habits, increasing our risk of obesity
Not eating before bed is better for blood sugar regulation
This is true – and there are other benefits to having dinner earlier too. A 2021 study compared two groups of adults who had dinner at different times – 6pm and 9pm – and measured their blood glucose levels throughout the following day2.
The study found the 6pm dinner group had more stable blood glucose levels when compared to the 9pm group, and increased their lipid metabolism after breakfast the next morning.
Eating before bed can disrupt your sleep and circadian rhythms
Our circadian rhythm – our 24-hour cycle that’s part of our internal clock – helps our body regulate different processes, like our sleep-wake cycle3.
When we eat before bed, we’re introducing food to our body to digest when we’re supposed to be sleeping, disrupting our typical circadian rhythm and possibly disrupting our sleep4. Further disruption to our sleep cycle can even lead to insomnia and compromise our normal metabolism rate5.
Eating before bed isn’t all bad
But just before you seal off the pantry after 6pm, eating a light snack before bed isn’t the end of the world. While the best-case scenario is avoiding eating anything before bed, sometimes that isn’t entirely realistic. Maybe you have to work a night shift, or you’ve had an unexpected event crop up in the evening.
If you do feel like a little snack, reach for something light and healthy, like carrots and snap peas with hummus, or a small serving of fruit and Greek yoghurt. These will provide your body with some protein and healthy fat, while helping you feel fuller for longer6.
