Late-night cravings are hard to resist, but doctors recommend against eating too close to your bedtime, regardless of what your diet constitutes.
Feeding your body the right nutrition is necessary to stay healthy, but when you feed it matters too. If you’re habituated to late-night snacks and munchies, even those branded “healthy”, you need to hear what the medical doctor on TikTok has to say.
Why you shouldn’t eat too close to bedtime
Snacking at ungodly hours is popularized on social media thanks to healthy alternatives influencers swear by. But you should avoid eating late in the night as it can disrupt your sleep cycle in the long run.
Dr. Idrees Mughal on TikTok claims eating late will force the organs to work on digesting the food you’ve had when they are meant to rest and repair cells in sleep.
He quotes from a study that found increased glucose levels among participants who ate at 10 PM as compared to those who last ate at 6 PM, before going to be at 11 PM.
Furthermore, our body isn’t “as efficient and regulating certain metabolic processes at night,” suggest evidence according to the doctor.
Late-night meals force the muscles and organs responsible for digestion to work instead of resting, which is against the natural circadian rhythm. This can delay your ability to fall asleep easily.
If eating too close to bedtime becomes a habit, you can get caught in a “vicious cycle” of disrupted sleep, increased cravings, and poor sleep from hunger pangs.
When should you stop eating?
The doctor suggests avoiding eating within three hours of your bedtime as it helps your body and mind fall into a deep rested state with a sufficient gap between your last meal and when you intend to sleep.
Dr. Idrees Mughal claims that eating close to bedtime is “strongly associated with poorer health, weight gain, and worsening mental health.”
If it’s impossible to refrain from eating, you may as well consider healthy snacks that aren’t big in portion and easy to digest.
According to Healthline, fruits such as Tart cherries and Kiwi are not only nutritious but also help you sleep better. Among savories, crackers, and cheese or whole grain wrap are considered healthier.
Dr. Idrees Mughal is a UK-trained medical doctor with an additional degree in Nutritional Research and is Board-Certified in Lifestyle Medicine.
He has gained a huge fan following on social media in the last couple of years owing to content that primarily calls out misinformation about medicine widely spread on different platforms. Dr. Idrees boasts over 1.8 million followers on TikTok.
