Food and sleep have a remarkable relationship. Both are needed in the right quantities and in happy sync to achieve a healthy mind and body. However, modern-day living has given birth to a few misconceptions about food, which lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. These are things most of us do without realizing their harmful effects.
According to scientists, immediately hitting the bed after having a meal is a big no-no. Most of us feel drowsy after meals (be it lunch or dinner), and generally go for sleep. We don’t know that without setting off any alarms, such an action leaves quite a few adverse effects.
Read – Lack of Sleep Leads to Weight Gain
The Scientific Explanation
Medical experts support the viewpoint of having dinner at least four hours before bedtime. There are several reasons for this instruction. However, the primary cause is that immediately going for a sleep after food leads to obesity (a condition of accumulated excessive fat in the body which leads to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and certain cancers).
Nutritionists often suggest eating patterns for weight loss, and if you observe carefully, they are very particular about meal timings. The science behind the concept is as follows:
Indigestion
Although all our body organs keep working while we sleep, the process is much slower than the day time. Even the digestive system is hampered to a small extent. This situation increases the probability of indigestion as the meal you take at dinner time may take longer to digest.
Acid reflux/ heartburn
Some people complain about acid push back and a burning sensation in the morning. Scientifically, this is because of the difficulty of food passing through the intestinal walls. That’s why there is discomfort and uneasiness while sleeping, and the sleeplessness resulting from such uneasiness leads to weight gain.
Read – The Link between Weight and Heartburn
Metabolism slows down
Conventional research suggests that as soon as you fall asleep, your metabolism starts to slow down. This means that the undigested calories get stored in the body as fat. Ideally, the evening being the time when people tend to feel hungrier, they should have their meals at that time. Supper then becomes an extra meal that they might ignore as well.
High blood sugar levels
According to studies, eating late at night may be a precedence to high blood sugar levels, which in turn leads to weight gain. A late dinner, many times, worsens glucose tolerance. And hence the body does not burn the fat which it is supposed to. The result is again, extra pounds.
The bottom line
Today, we’ve all switched to odd hours of eating, depending on our convenience. But that can have more harm than benefit. Now that we know the consequences of hitting the bed immediately after supper, we should remember to have a long window between supper and sleep.
