It’s challenging to only pick three reasons here because there are many. Simply put consuming excess calories late at night can have a detrimental impact on several key areas of your health. Be aware of what you’re doing! Here’s three key reasons not to eat after dinner…
Extra Calories: For most of us, the day’s work is coming to an end. Food is needed for energy and if it’s not getting used, it’s getting stored. A glass of wine and few squares of chocolate can tack on an unnecessary 300 calories really quick. If you want to do some math for your nightly “routine”, that adds up to 2100 extra calories per week (more than a whole extra day’s worth!). Your body’s natural rythym is preparing for sleep, not action.
Interrupted Sleep: Your body shuts down at night to rest and repair. It can generally take between 6-8 hours to fully digest a meal. That being said, you want to at least give your body a chance to move things through the stomach and into your intestines. If you lay down to sleep immediately after eating, your natural digestion process will be interrupted, leaving you at risk for acid reflux and other problems. Don’t set your body up for a battle between sleep and digestion.
Healing and Hormone Balance: Our body is hard wired for both cortisol (stress hormone) and insulin (blood sugar) to be stabilizing as the evening approaches. Stimulating the body with unnecessary calories tells the body we are preparing for action (stress). The “dip” in blood sugar levels after eating a meal or snack is representative of our insulin and cortisol levels trying to balance out. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) plays a major factor in the healing and repair of our cells, and is released shortly after we sleep. If the body is dealing with extra digestive stress, this natural healing processes is interrupted. By avoiding late night eating, you encourage healthy hormone balance.
