Eating before bed = poor sleep?

[Nauticus]

My eating schedule during the day has been sporadic, ending with some peanut butter and milk 30 minutes before bed. For the past few months, sleep has been inconsistent. I'll lay in bed for 30 minutes trying to first fall asleep; then sleep for 2 hours; then wake up and lay there for another 30 minutes until my restless mind shuts off and I can doze off again.

As you can guess, under 7 hours of sleep makes for a shitty mood and ugly workouts. For the past two days, though, I've been sleeping pretty damned well. I suspected that eating too close to bedtime gave me energy that I did not need before sleeping, so I've been eating more at dinnertime and nothing afterwards. As bedtime approaches, I feel more tired and my sleep goes uninterrupted.

Has anyone else experienced the same thing? Maybe just a placebo, but I'll take whatever works..

[usafa407]

I tend to have my last meal about 2-3 hours before going to bed so this generally isn't a problem for me. Have you noticed any change in your recovery since cutting out the PM meal?

[Nauticus]

I tend to have my last meal about 2-3 hours before going to bed so this generally isn't a problem for me. Have you noticed any change in your recovery since cutting out the PM meal?

Since I've only gone 1 workout since doing this, I can't say for sure if it's affecting my recovery. But I'm almost confident it is. Today's workout felt focused, and my mind didn't feel full of sludge. I'm beginning to think that food can only help recovery to an extent; sleep is also important in determining the quality of workouts.

[milesdyson]

Only if it leads to you having to wake up to Defecate. Waxy maize and its high molecular weight leads to just this for me, so if I work out a little bit later than my usual time I'll scrap the maize so I don't have to get up in the middle of the night to drop an epic deuce. I still eat plenty of solid food though. My body can handle slow carbs and food based protein, but the maize really seems to go right through me.

[hatmanii]

Your body has to work to digest the food your eating, so it very well could be affecting your sleep. I'd keep the bedtime snack in place but push it back so that you are eating it at most an hour before sleeping.

[Rorschach]

WTF? And miss all that digesting time? :D

[Dastardly]

Maybe I am just a little odd but I always eat something directly before hitting the sack.

Sometimes this is a big meal followed by a caffeiniated hot drink, other times it may just be some peanut butter and milk.

I would find it difficult to sleep without these things, I need food to feel satiated and able to relax into sleep.

[METAL VIPER]

I always have cottage cheese and milk before bed, sometimes with peanut butter and I have never had problems falling or staying asleep, but your mileage may vary.

[MazdaMatt]

I sleep like a baby if I get home late and have a huge meal before bed. Last night i had salmon and a pint of milk, washed the dishes and went to bed. Slept like a rock (which is unusual for me).

[nisora33]

A meal high in carbohydrates can boost serotonin levels. Increased serotonin can make you sleeeeeepy.

-S.

[WatsupHannity]

Chappelle disagrees with you (http://www.buzzhumor.com/videos/3471/Dave_Chappelle_Ribs)

[Slevn81]

I always have cottage cheese and milk before bed, sometimes with peanut butter and I have never had problems falling or staying asleep, but your mileage may vary.

Cottage cheese is solid; it's high in casein (the slow-absorbing protein as opposed to whey).


A meal high in carbohydrates can boost serotonin levels. Increased serotonin can make you sleeeeeepy.

True, but there's also a reason they say you should eat fewer carbs toward the end of the day...as far as glycemic index goes, I think that might not be the healthiest option.

[LondonTiger]

I also heasrd thyat carbs before bed helps you sleep, also heard that protein before bed stops effective sleep, as protein goes through a complex digestion process and the stomach has to wake up and recruit lots of things to break down the proteins.

Slaps in the face of convetnional BB diet wisdom.

[nisora33]

True, but there's also a reason they say you should eat fewer carbs toward the end of the day...as far as glycemic index goes, I think that might not be the healthiest option.

Silly Bullshit. And that's not just the bourbon talking.

[MilkEnthusiast]

I don't really equate an average sized meal before bed with sleep problems. However, if I overeat (or drink a bit too much milk) too soon efore bed, then I may have somewhat of a stomach ache, and it will take a while for my body to digest.

I am more likely to equate my own difficult falling asleep with unrelated problems - maybe a stresful day, or something on my mind.

[Rorschach]

Silly Bullshit. And that's not just the bourbon talking.

What's the reasoning behind this? You could be right, but I've heard it a fair number of times (even John Shaeffer seems to agree) - your metabolism's low when you sleep, so fast disgesting sugars are even more likely to be stored as fat?

[nisora33]

What's the reasoning behind this? You could be right, but I've heard it a fair number of times (even John Shaeffer seems to agree) - your metabolism's low when you sleep, so fast disgesting sugars are even more likely to be stored as fat?


I think you need to look at the total picture to understand why it may not (necessarily) be a big deal to eat carbs close to bedtime.

If you're creating a calorie deficit for the purposes of losing weight, and with your bedtime carbs, you're still in a deficit, then those carbs aren't going to be stored as fat. Even at maintenance calories, I don't see fat storage as being an issue.

Maybe for contest dieters, who're already very close to the lower limits of what they can achieve bodyfat-wise, fine-tuning the diet in this manner may be of benefit. In other words, for them to get any closer to their goals, fine tweaks may be necessary and beneficial, but by contrast, how important do you think it is for someone with 20+ percent bodyfat to worry about bedtime carbs, when putting them in a calorie deficit with protein kept high is going to get them to at least 12-15% bodyfat without them having to take any special dietary measures? But I'm not a bodybuilder, I don't work with bodybuilders, so I don't have any experience getting folks to sub-10% bodyfat and beyond, and it really wouldn't be fair for me to comment definitively on the bedtime carb strategy with regard to that population.

I just know that for the people I'm seeing and working with (folks above 20% bodyfat), a plain old calorie deficit works just fine. The smaller details I work out as I go based on my experience with that individual, but no, I have not found that bedtime carbs impact my clients negatively.

-S.

[Aslin]

Somthing high in fat like eggs would be great before bed... I've never had a problem sleeping.

[bowdirk]

Pizza, PB&J, other Fatty foods do impact my sleep negatively. Sometimes I get an Acid Reflux response. It sucks, sleep for an hour and then wake up with a mouthful of barf...

Milk, Tuna Salad, lighter foods are fine for me right before bedtime.

cheers,
-bowdirk