Eating Before Bed: Delightful But Not Good For You!

By Author: Tia Arnold
Total Articles: 9
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After a hard day's work, it's ultimately time to turn in. You look forward to a good night's sleep to prepare you for another long day. You hit the lights after you feel the familiar urge creeping up. You yank down the sheets and pay attention to your urges; the next thing you know, you find yourself feverishly eating before bed.

Night eating syndrome is an issue where a person eats too much food before bedtime or perhaps the middle of the night. Most people with the disorder claim that they need to eat prior to going to bed to ensure that they sleep well. You'll find rare cases, however, where people are unaware of their nightly binges, waking up and visiting the kitchen in a sleeping state.

Night eating syndrome is a result of numerous factors such as stress, hormone imbalances, genetic tendencies, eating disorder, mood disorder, anxiety, depression and obesity.

Why eating before bed is bad

-Individuals that have this problem eat irregularly during the day. They're left feeling stuffed and tend to feel nauseous in the morning. They choose to skip breakfast and eat lightly making their food intake ...
... uneven. Seeing as there are few calories consumed during the day, individuals are forced to eat meals through the evening, continuing the unhealthy cycle.

-Individuals feel fatigue in the morning. The body readies itself for sleep after dinner by reducing the body's metabolism. When this occurs, the body slows down the rate where it burns calories. Eating before bed forces the body to spend energy digesting food where it could actually have spent the energy necessary to keep your heart beating, lungs pumping and sustaining eye movement during REM.

-Eating before bed leads to stomach cramps and bloating. Food may not be adequately digested during the night triggering cramps and a sense of bloating. It's a result of gas and food particles left from poor digestion.

-Slows growth! When the body is compelled to use up energy digesting food throughout the night, the human growth hormone (HGH) production decreases. It is a bad thing considering that HGH burns fat and develops muscles.

-Persons with this issue may feel insomnia. This occurs if they feel like they have not eaten the amount of food desired before bedtime.

Don't be alarmed though when you have a hypnic jerk--it isn't due to eating before bed. A hypnic jerk is often described as a falling sensation or an electric shock. It takes place during the Rapid Eye Movement stage of sleep when a person is sleeping uncomfortably. Additionally, it occurs when a person is overly-tired.

A hypnic jerk is a normal experience. It occurs because of the body's changing temperature and breathing when falling asleep. It's the result of muscles relaxing. The brain misinterprets this as a sign of falling. The brain then signals our limbs to awaken; consequently the jerking legs or arms. Hypnic jerks typically take place only once or twice a night.

Tia Arnold is a doctor who knows the bad effects of eating before bed and what hypnic jerk means.