How many hours before sleep can you eat? Opinions of different people

There are many opinions about how many hours before sleep you can eat. People have a confusion in this concept, as there is a divergence of opinions. Some nutritionists say that dinner should be no later than 6-7 pm, and there are also studies that the last meal should be 4 hours before bedtime. And if you have to go to bed at 1 am, then which opinion should you follow?

Whether it is necessary to eat before a dream?

First, you need to figure out whether you can eat before bed. The fact that the processes of digestion during sleep slow down and food eaten at night, and does not have time to digest. For this reason, stomach diseases, dysbacteriosis develop and immunity worsens, and as a result, excess weight appears. But buying an extra kilogram is not the worst thing that can happen.

Violation of the hormonal system leads to the appearance of such serious diseases as atherosclerosis, osteochondrosis, hypertension with subsequent strokes, etc. Depressions, psychoses and other nervous disorders are a consequence of eating at night.

Experts say that during sleep on an empty stomach the body triggers a mechanism of rejuvenation, and if there is before it, it increases the level of the sex hormone and the stress hormone. This leads to an accelerated aging of the body.

The best time for dinner

Dinner until 18 hours is advisable, if the sleep time will come in the period of 20:00 to 21:00. Otherwise there will be a very long break between the last and the first (morning) meal. And this provokes fluctuations in the level of sugar and insulin, which leads to a great sense of hunger, and in the future to overeating.

Light dinner

Gastroenterologists and pediatricians, arguing about how many hours to sleep you can eat, came to the conclusion that patients with diseases of the digestive system and children under 14 can not go to bed hungry. Dietitians in this case offer to eat low-calorie foods. If you talk about light meals for dinner, then you can include a boiled chicken with vegetables, baked fish with salad, cottage cheese.

Therefore, everyone else, except for the above-mentioned categories of people, is not recommended to eat at night. But also nutritionists advise, if you really want, then an hour before sleep you can use light meals: a portion of green salad, stewed vegetables, a small portion of oatmeal in the water, a glass of milk or kefir, a couple of apples, yogurt without additives, banana. They will be able to satisfy hunger well and not harm the body.

This meal is not suitable for dinner

But if there are any doubts whether it is worth while at night, then you should always listen to your body.

There are people who allow themselves any errors in nutrition and do not gain excess weight. For those who are inclined to fullness, eat before bedtime no later than 3-4 hours. During this period of time the body will digest food and at the same time will not be hungry, and will not put aside fat for stock. But you should know what foods you can not eat for dinner. It's coffee and other drinks that contain caffeine.

And also it's pizza, potatoes and especially French fries, fatty meat, sweet cereals and sweets, spicy, smoked and pickled products. For dinner, you need to eat protein light foods and avoid carbohydrates.

How many hours before sleep can you eat? Answering the question, one must take into account the person's way of life, the time of sleep and awakening, what food and how much was consumed during the day. Here everything is calculated individually.

Opinion of nutritionists

Previously, we examined products that can not be used in the evening. Dietitians offer recipes for dinners and late snacks. 2-3 hours before going to bed it is better to cook fillets of pollock, chum salmon. Fish should be baked in the oven. Ideal option will be fish cutlets or meatballs, baked in the oven or a couple.

You can cook mussels or shrimp for dinner. Poultry meat and low-fat beef must be cooked with vegetables. For 1-2 hours before bedtime, it is useful to eat salads from fresh greens, which can be poured with 1 tablespoon of linseed oil. It is sold at the pharmacy. Half an hour before sleep, you are allowed to drink a glass of kefir or eat a little cottage cheese, washing it with herbal tea.

Athletes' opinion

There is another opinion of athletes: for those who are engaged in sports, what is before going to bed, it is extremely important, and sometimes even necessary, since a snack will reduce the feeling of hunger and the body will have enough protein for muscle growth. But we need to properly distribute dinner time. Athletes recommend an hour or a half to eat a small, gram 250, a portion of protein food.

Making dinner more useful

If you already have a habit of eating before going to sleep, and in the morning you have to wake up with a feeling of heaviness, fatigue and bags under the eyes and swelling appear, then you need to gradually moderate your evening appetite. To do this, you need to change the diet of dinner - to remove high-calorie foods and replace them with less calories.

It is important to exclude the consumption of alcohol at night, preferably drink water or green tea. It is recommended to use aromatherapy: smells of fir, vanilla and mint help to relieve the feeling of hunger and promote a calm sleep.

Conclusion

Now it is clear how many hours before sleep you can eat. Analyzing the opinions of scientists, doctors, athletes and girls who are eager to follow their figure, it was very difficult to come to an unequivocal decision.

But everyone who cares about this problem, adhere to the rules: you can not just before going to bed, it's better to do it in an hour and a half. It is necessary to exclude the evening reception of carbohydrate food and alcohol. Portions of food should be small. Then an evening meal or a small snack can not hurt your health.