Is it healthy to eat before bed?

Article

04 April 2023

3 min read

It’s an age-old saying: eating before bed is bad for your health. But does this assumption hold any water, or is it just an old wives' tale?

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 or Greek yoghurt. These will provide your body with some protein and healthy fat, while helping you feel fuller for longer⁶.

Footnotes:
¹https://hms.harvard.edu/news/late-night-eating-impact
²https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8308587/
³https://www.sleepfoundation.org/circadian-rhythm
⁴https://www.sleep.com/sleep-health/eating-before-bed
⁵https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0748730419892105?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed
⁶https://health.clevelandclinic.org/is-eating-before-bed-bad-for-you/

Staff writers come from a range of backgrounds including health, wellbeing, music, tech, culture and the arts. They spend their time researching the latest data and trends in the health market to deliver up-to-date information, helping everyday Australians live healthier lives. This is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances. The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances.

Disclaimer:
Copyright © 2023 AIA Australia Limited (ABN 79 004 837 861 AFSL 230043). This is general information only, without taking into account factors like the objectives, financial situation, needs or personal circumstances of any individual and is not intended to be financial, legal, tax, medical, nutritional, health, fitness or other advice. The source information of the articles is current as at 14 March 2023 and may be subject to change. While the information contained herein is believed to be accurate, AIA Australia expressly disclaims any and all liability for representations or warranties, expressed or implied, contained in, or for omissions from, the information.

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