Though going to bed hungry can help with sleep and weight loss, lack of access to food can actually increase your risk of obesity, asthma, and other health problems.
The bottom line. Eating bananas before bed may help you get a good night's sleep. Bananas are rich in magnesium, potassium, tryptophan, vitamin B6, carbs, and fiber, all of which may improve sleep quality via different mechanisms.
“If you are hungry, you should eat something, regardless of the time of day,” says Aimee Takamura, registered dietitian and director of wellness and sustainability at Restaurant Associates. “The act of eating late at night does not affect metabolism or lead to many of the adverse effects you may have heard of.
“Those who get hungry before bed can try eating low-caloric snacks which may help with hunger, but decrease the possible adverse effects of eating so late,” McHill says. If you're needing a bigger meal later in the evening, make sure the foods aren't keeping you up with bloating, heartburn, or acid reflux.
Carbohydrate-rich foods like toast trigger insulin production. This induces sleep by speeding up the release of tryptophan, a chemical that helps to relax the body and send it off to sleep.
So when exactly should you stop eating at night? Scientists can't agree on a single set time, but the consensus seems to be within three hours before bedtime. So if you go to bed at 11 p.m., don't eat after 8 p.m. Banishing late night snacks after that time could help alleviate the symptoms of acid reflux disease, too.
No matter which route you take, popcorn is one of the best late-night snacks there is. It satisfies salty or sweet cravings, depending on what you mix it with, and it'll keep you full 'til breakfast.
What should I eat if I am still hungry after dinner?
If you don't find yourself feeling full during or immediately after a meal, try incorporating more foods that are high in volume but low in calories ( 10 , 11 ). These foods, such as most fresh vegetables, fruits, air-popped popcorn, shrimp, chicken breast, and turkey, tend to have greater air or water content.
After 8 p.m., you have plenty of snacking options. Just be sure to avoid alcohol and foods with high sugar, sodium, and caffeine contents. These tend to cause acid reflux or increase blood pressure which could disrupt sleep.
The answer is casein protein. Although casein has been shown to be slightly inferior to whey in its muscle-building ability, it's still your best bet when it comes to a bed-time protein source. The reason? Your body needs to be sustained for six to eight hours during sleep without food.
A bowl of unsweetened cereal (e.g. rice puffs, bran flakes) or muesli high in complex carbs, coupled with milk makes for a yummy bedtime snack. As a bonus, the duo in this combo help your body produce melatonin to lead you into a more restful night.
Some appropriate high-protein snacks include: 1 cup of 1 percent milk fat cottage cheese. one slice of bread with peanut butter and a glass of 1 percent milk. a single-serving container of plain Greek yogurt with berries.
What's the best food to eat before bed to build muscle?
Noshing on slow-digesting protein-rich snacks, like cottage cheese and a casein shake, right before bedtime along with healthy fats enables the muscles to tap into nutrients to get bigger and stronger.
Dairy products such as Greek Yogurt contain an amino acid called tryptophan, which may help you to feel drowsier before heading to bed. After you eat foods rich in tryptophan, your body converts it into two hormones, serotonin and melatonin, which may promote a restful night's sleep.
According to Lauren Popeck, RD, a dietitian at Orlando Health, Greek yogurt is perfect for bedtime, because it contains the sleep-inducing chemical tryptophan. And because it's such a rich source of protein, Greek yogurt can also help you avoid that same glucose spike.
