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Does when and what you choose to consume prior to bedtime have a big impact on your health and your weight? Is it important to time what you eat in order to sleep better and lose weight?
Many people are not sure whether it is it bad to eat before bed and so they buy into the prevailing myths that are lurking around on the Internet. By the end of this article you’ll be more informed whether or not you should eat before bed is actually good or bad for you.
Most people who trying to lose weight are warned not to eat before bed. The logic seems to make sense that if you eat right before bedtime that your body will convert the food into stored fat rather than using it for fuel. The final result will be that you’ll add more pounds to your weight. Is this true? Is there evidence to support the fact that to eat before bed may actually be a myth?
Setting Straight The Myths About Should You Eat Before Bed
If you do a thorough search on the Internet you’ll be hard pressed to locate any conclusive information that to eat before bed is bad for you. In fact, whether you eat late night or just before bed really doesn’t matter as long as you balance your intake of food against calories burned during a 24-hour cycle.
Now where health is concerned there may be some things you want to consider when you eat before bed. If you regularly suffer from acid reflux commonly known as gastro esophageal reflux disease, GERD then eating right before bed may cause you some stomach problems. When you go to bed your body lies horizontally not vertically and this can cause the contents in your stomach to flow back into your esophagus.
This will cause heartburn and other unwanted health conditions if it goes untreated which causes you to toss and turn all night. But if you already suffer from GERD you will undoubtedly have these same symptoms when you like down regardless of the time of day. Normally, a simple solution to this problem for GERD sufferers is to raise your head with an Acid Reflux Pillow to help keep your digested food where it belongs.
Another reason you may believe it is bad to eat before bed is because you may create a poor sleeping quality environment filled with nightmares and bad dreams. However, there is no real evidence to support this is true either. Rather than believing in the myths it’s much more prudent to let your personal experience be the judge. If eating your favorite late night snack causes you to have bad dreams then just avoid eating those snacks right before bedtime and this should eliminate those bad dreams if they exist.
Consuming alcohol and caffeine before bed are a bit different. If your body is sensitive to stimulants it’s a good idea not to consume them at least 3 – 4 hours prior to bedtime. Alcohol induced sleep only works initially because it will cause you to awake only a few hours later and cause difficulty getting back to sleep.
The bottom line is that calories that you may eat before bed and calories consumed at other times of the day are processed differently. However, there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that it is bad to eat before bed. Also, remember that your weight gain or weight loss will be the difference between calories consumed and calories burned over time. So, is it bad to eat before bed? No, not unless you have a specific sleeping disorder and you fail to monitor your calorie intake and calories burned.
Many people are perplexed about exactly sleeping apnea is? Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder where a person has pauses of breathing during the nighttime while they are trying to sleep. Typically the problem occurs many times during the night. Sleep apnea has many warning signs that may alert an individual they may suffer from the sleeping disorder.
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