Having dinner is one of our favourite moments of the day, right? But when we eat so much (or too late) appears in our bodies a sensation like if we were a roundabout, and it makes so complicated to sleep, right? So, let me tell you that you could be sabotaging your own sleep… But, wait, it is not just what is on the plate (which is important too), it is about the hour you have dinner!
Your body has a schedule
Our body has a kind of internal clock that decides when to do things of human body (like sleep, be alert, digest or not digest). But sometimes your body just activates the “night mode” (as your iPhone does) and makes that having dinner after this moment works against the melatonin (your sleep hormone).
When it (melatonin) rises, your body understands that it’s time to sleep and you broke that body schedule.
So, what time is it best to have dinner?
You should eat dinner between two and four hours before going to bed. If you usually go to bed around 11:00 PM, a good hour would be between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM. If one day it runs a bit late, nothing happens. This is about habits, not military perfection.
What happens when you eat dinner late
When you eat very close to bedtime, the body neither digests well nor rests as it should. The result is usually quite recognizable:
- Trouble falling asleep
- Wake up several times
- Wake up tired (even if you have “slept”)
- Feel heaviness or heartburn
- Blood sugar gets out of control more easily
It affects metabolism and increases the risk of problems such as type 2 diabetes, during the day we digest better, at night not so much.
Human body is designed to eat during the day (the sun hours) when there is light and activity. At night, everything slows down, digestion, energy and the way we process nutrients. Eating dinner late forces the body to row against the current!
It is not just dinner…
Eating at similar times every day helps the body anticipate and work better. Irregular schedules, on the other hand, throw it off. A very common mistake is skipping breakfast or eating little during the day and then arriving at night extremely hungry, which leads to large and late dinners.
What if I get hungry at night?
It happens, and it is usually a sign that something earlier is not well adjusted. The solution is not to endure it like a hero or go to bed angry at the world, but to gradually move meal times earlier and make sure you eat enough and in a balanced way during the day (try to include proteins in your diet!). If you need to have dinner, keep it lighter and earlier. That will always be better than a late night binge.
Are there benefits?
Of course, many people notice changes in just a few days by simply moving dinner one hour earlier. They sleep better, wake up with more energy, digest better and stop feeling heavy at night. You do not need to change everything at once. Sometimes a small adjustment changes almost everything.
Sleeping well starts before you get into bed
We think a lot about the mattress, the pillow or silence, but the table also matters. Eating dinner at the right time is one of those simple, free and effective habits that have a real impact on health. No supplements, no strange diets, no complications.