not eating after a certain time?

Katy_Adele

I always here that you shouldn't eat after a certain time (like 9pm or something) what do you guys and girls know about that, I've always been curious.

jaristokes

I heard that it was 3 hours before bedtime. Not sure if it is important or not. . . . . .

vmt90509

3 hours before bed time is a good rule of thumb. If you eat right before you go to bed your body has a hard time shutting down to do its repairs. It is still trying to digest and process the foods that you have just ingested. You don't sleep as well either. It also has a hard time converting into glycogen...but rather is stored as fat.

significance

Mostly, it's a myth. Some people eat their main meal early and if they eat after dinner, it's likely to add extra calories to their day, so in that case, it makes sense to have a rule against it. But really, it's calories in vs calories out for weight loss: it doesn't matter what time you eat. Eating carbohydrates shortly before bed will help you sleep (http://www.ajcn.org/content/85/2/426.full), while eating fats before bed is likely to have the opposite effect.

LadyOfOceanBreeze

interesting about the digestion idea, i know i've heard that digesting food takes a lot of energy so it may be that this would take away from body "repair" efforts during sleep. good reason to digest food before sleeping i'd say! thanks for the info:)