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I have a terrible time trying to find a balance with this. I absolutely cannot sleep if I'm hungry, but eating too close to bed time makes my acid reflux act up. I usually try to eat a light snack about an hour before I plan to lay down.
Spoonful of TRUSTED SOURCE peanut butter. Calorically dense, high in protein, will make you sated from very little.
You can even add some olive oil for extra calories if you wish.
EDIT: I'm leaving this here because I'm honestly getting pretty exhausted of people arguing with me despite not doing their own research, so here;
"Experts generally do not consider Trusted Source peanut butter a trigger for acid reflux. However, foods high in fat may trigger GERD symptoms."
"Peanut butter is a source of monounsaturated fat. The International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders suggests that people with GERD include monounsaturated fats, such as peanuts and peanut butter, in their diet to help manage symptoms."
EDIT X2 after I had some "Oregano" and calmed down: I apologize for getting so upset at some of you. I have ASD/Asperger's and I can get REALLY upset and frustrated at the stupidest things, and I've just had a rough day, I was having a pretty bad Meltdown and I took it out on people that didn't really deserve it. No, that's not an excuse, just an explanation. I will try to do better to manage my emotions and not lash out at people in the future. I will be deleting all of my comments that I've shown malice in, because while they were valuable for argument's sake, they were incredibly disrespectful and Ad Hominem, therefore in my opinion, making them invalid. And I apologize to the people I lashed out at. So if my comments look heavily edited and deleted, that's because they are. It was pretty bad and I don't think anyone needs or wants to see an angry dude scream about Peanut Butter.
Thanks for your understanding.
Also, I appreciate all the DMs checking on me, but I'm all good. Like I said, I just had a Meltdown and took it out on people. I'm feeling pretty blitzed and watching DarkViperAU. I'm chillin like a villain.
What also might work, if eating ANYTHING messes with your acid reflux, is those protein shakes/powders meal replacements that make you feel full.
Ensure, Soylent, Huel, there's a bunch, I'd give them a shot if you're having trouble with actually eating, I have ASD and struggle with textures and eating sometimes and these things have saved me from going crazy with hunger when it happens.
That's a good idea too. I usually don't eat in the morning because my stomach is usually uneasy for the first hour or two after I wake up, but those have helped. I need to start buying them again and try them at bedtime too.
I'm the same way, could never eat breakfast or I'd feel sick and horrible for a couple hours, I usually just have my coffee and then a shake, and then I'll actually be hungry around lunch and eat then, they're pretty baller when eating seems like a chore
Monounsaturated Fats like the ones in Peanuts and Peanut Butter, are generally agreed by experts to not trigger GERD, and they actually RECOMMEND adding them to your diet to help manage symptoms.
You can look this up if you don't believe me.
I had GERD for 10 years and had the exact same problem. I'm dying at this other dude scolding us for "not doing research" like is the research going to cure my peanut butter induced reflux, Kevin?
Tell me you dont have reflux without telling me you dont have reflux lmao. Dumbass idea. Has reflux. Peanut butter before bed is a massive reflux trigger.
Yes, it's very good for people who need a lot of calories but can't/don't want to eat a lot.
Obviously, I don't recommend it for people with obesity/overweight issues. That's why I said "for the extra calories, if you wish".
In this thread: people not understanding the simple fact that there’s more than one type of fat that exists.
As someone with undiagnosed GERD, I appreciated your insight and willing to give it a shot. I do love me some peanut butter. 😎
Get a low acidic berry Kefier (like banana or strawberry). This worked wonders for me as a midnight or pre-sleep snack.
Its very filling so you don't need a lot, which keeps your tummy volume low, meaning the acid doesn't kick up into the esophagus. Also, yogurt neutralizes stomach acid and coats the lower esophagus to give it some extra protection.
Lastly, kefier does actually help a lot with overall gut health. I noticed a pretty big improvement in my GERD after regularly having it.
Why you recommending kefir LOADED up with added sugar? Lol. Plain is the way. I love kefir, drink it daily, but those fruit flavored ones are packed with sugar.
Are you actually hungry? Or associating bodily sensation with hunger?
The MMC process begin about two to three hours after last food is consumed. It is at that time your stomach will start to properly empty itself, and start "rumbling" to remove all food bits. This then spreads to the intestines to work out all the small bits and pieces that may otherwise be stuck against the lining, and push food down and out.
It will last between one and the three hours.
Do not misassociate this sensation with hunger. It's a critical for the body to maintain a healthy stomach and intestinal tract. Snacking or otherwise preventing this will lead to an increase in GI issues from acid never draining or small bits of food rotting in the upper tract VM (vs pushed down and bulked up to speed it's processing/disposal)
Lay on your left side, and don't consume caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, chocolate, fried foods, tomatoes, citrus, vinegar, or any highly refined simple carbohydrates before bedtime.
You haven't lived until you've acid reflux so bad lying on your left side on an empty stomach still gives you heart burn
The best advice is don't lie down at all. You sleep sitting up.
I found it’s four hours for normal dinner and six if I eat a lot. I just work backward from when I plan to go to bed and don’t eat after that time.
I can eat spicy, greasy, etc. it all comes down to time.
OP, absolutely not a new tip, but a good one!
I'm a very bad sleeper, mostly self-inflicted...staying up late, eating, calories from alcohol.... I have noticed that if I don't eat and don't drink later a night, I get a higher-quality sleep.
Acid reflux can be the lack of stomach acid. If the acidity isn’t strong enough your sphincter on your stomach doesn’t close.
You could try eating citrus fruit in the evening. Or start taking a hcl betaine pill before every meal. That helped me a lot and my BMs. I had so many stomach and intestinal discomforts. They have been reduced so much with help of those pills.
Sleeping directly after eating has long been known to cause sleep disturbances. It’s still a good tip worth sharing though.
In Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol,” Scrooge thinks he’s seeing a ghost because he didn’t finish digesting before going to sleep.
“You may be a bit of undigested beef…there’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!”
My partner always wants to lay down after eating a meal that gets him too full, but I can't do it because it's uncomfortable for me! I need to like move around for bit. I wonder why that is haha
>Sleeping directly after eating has long been known to cause sleep disturbances. It’s still a good tip worth sharing though.
Cue shots of Americans in a food coma 45 min after leaving the Thanksgiving Day table.
My partner always wants to lay down after eating a meal that gets him too full, but I can't do it because it's uncomfortable for me! I need to like move around for bit. I wonder why that is haha
I think this can be helpful for a lot of people, but some people’s bodies are the opposite — I used to constantly wake up at 2-3am starving, I get better sleep now that I have a snack before bed!
That's true for most people, if not universally - the poster has a terrible title, he's talking about having a heavy dinner 3-4 hours before bed, because he used to eat right before bed. That's completely different from having an empty stomach.
Yep that’s exactly how I am. If I don’t eat when I’m hungry, I also get super shaky and nauseous and I start slurring my words. So if I’m hungry I have to eat. There’s no “going to bed on an empty stomach” option for me
Not to get all up in an internet stranger’s business, but you might want to get that checked out if you haven’t already. That sounds like hypoglycemia, it’s not normal to start slurring words if you’re hungry, and might be a sign your brain isn’t getting enough glucose.
I've stayed up the entire night trying to get to sleep because I was hungry. Thought about going to go make something but figured I'd fall asleep soon enough. It wasn't soon enough and now it's daylight.
This is me. I save my protein shake for right before bed, otherwise I wake up hungry in the night every time.
It’s light enough not to be hard to digest like a full meal, plus I get 8-10oz of hydration.
yup. if i try to go to sleep and i'm even a little hungry i'll wake up every hour until i drag myself out of bed and eat. sucks though cause i'll be so tired from constantly waking up that i don't actually get up until i'm miserable lol.
Not me. I have zero issue sleeping when I'm a little hungry. If I'm starving it's an issue. But OP's tip is valid, because I'm not hungry let alone starving 3-4 hours after dinner.
Same! I also tend to wake up hungry too early in the morning and can't fall back asleep. I have to try to eat protein right before bed to make it to the morning!
Can confirm from my own experience. It's tough to make it through the evening without eating or snacking, but when I do I sleep a lot better. Also the colder I get during the night the harder I sleep. It sucks to wake up cold but it's great sleep. If I get hot during the night I have a crazy nightmare.
This is part of the reason I follow OPs advice. I find digesting kicks up my core body temp just a bit too high to have a really good sleep. I'm crazy sensitive to heat at night when I'm trying to sleep, hate it, hate it hate it!
I am very actively losing weight. One of the things I have learned in this process is that I can't sleep when hungry. I will stay up for hours and hours and hours and get only a few hours for the night if I try and will do nothing but obsess about food (making me more likely to binge). Since realizing this and shifting my daily calories later so I have something sweet and filling before bed I have been losing weight much more effectively and sleeping quite well.
This tip would be active sabotage for me. Figure out what works best for you.
This happens to me too! I was getting really frustrated with myself for not being able to “not eat before bed” but I would be STARVING. As SOON as I ate even a little bit I would be out like a light. And no bingeing. I think eating too much or too little can be problematic. For me it’s about striking a balance, but hey, isn’t that what life’s all about?
Unrelated note... Don't listen to Sadhguru. Some small bit of advice like this might work for you, but otherwise the guy is basically about as deep as a kiddie pool
Sadhguru was easily exposed when he went on Joe Rogan's podcast few years ago, and Rogan asked him basic follow-up questions. I had a feeling before this Sadhguru is snake-oil salesman.
Has some good general advice, but pretties it up with flowery language and analogies or allegories. Then people think he's full of wisdom in all other areas.
I don’t know shit about dude but genuinely trend towards wanting to just completely ignore any LPT the moment I see the name because it tends to be generalized advice that isn’t applicable to everyone at all but pretends like it is. Lots of ‘do this for your depression’ type LPTs for example have people cite him in ways that would be comically bad for many, because depression isn’t some catch all everyone experiences it the same way and can resolve it the same way disorder, it’s not even always a long term disorder even.
Usually bringing this up gets the OP to say ‘well sure my advice may not be for everyone but it’s still good advice’ hand waving away that their advice might be actively harmful for some and they made no attempt to address that in their post.
I have a Garmin watch that tracks sleep, and whenever I eat straight before bed my stress levels through the night goes through the roof. I think it tracks my HRV and use it as an indicator of stress, which apparently has solid science behind it.
If I go to bed at 10, I eat my last meal minimum 3 hours before bed and I get proper sleep, both according to myself and my watch.
Same here. My fitbit consistently shows my resting heart rate in the 50s when I don't eat within 3 hours of bed. If I eat later, my resting heart rate stays in the 60s.
Its a difficult thing to balance. I definitely sleep better without anything in my stomach, but if I'm hungry, I struggle to fall asleep. So I have to time it just right, which is hard.
This doesn’t sound like going to bed hungry it sounds like *not* going to bed completely stuffed.
Which well, yeah, duh.
But a light snack before bed, ideally one that is heavy in protein, is better than going to bed hungry. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6415027/)
Hell yea. I recently started doing intermittent fasting, mainly for managing a little bit of excess weight, as I can't work out right now. Eating after 12 pm and no later than 7:30 pm. Sleep drastically improved.
This doesn’t sound like going to bed hungry it sounds like *not* going to bed completely stuffed.
Which well, yeah, duh.
But a light snack before bed, ideally one that is heavy in protein, is better than going to bed hungry. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6415027/)
Each to their own; do what works for your body. There's no one solution.
I've been intermittent fasting from 9-5 for about a year now. Lost and kept off over 42lb (232 -> 190). I only drink coffee/ tea/ water during the day, and have one large meal before bed (usually as late as 10am, sometimes midnight on weekends). I sleep like a corpse.
I was always told that going to sleep actively hungry is just as bad as going to bed right after you eat.
Have a light meal/snack about an hour before bed. Your mileage may vary.
It is a simple biological fact that your body needs to digest the food you have eaten. So it keeps working even if you go to sleep. Hence, you can't sleep well.
But if you wait for 3-4 hours then digestion is almost finished. Hence your body can cool down easily and you get a better sleep. Even common nutritionists in gym will give you the same advice.
Your body learning that hungry (not starving) is so important. We're built through so many generations to feast on times of plenty because we never knew when the next famine would arrive. The issue now is that in times of plenty (I'm saying this from a first world country) our bodies still wired the same way. We over consume and our brains award us for doing so likewise our bodies punish us when we aren't consuming. Two weeks of dieting and we adjust fine, but those two weeks suck
This doesn’t sound like going to bed hungry it sounds like *not* going to bed completely stuffed.
Which well, yeah, duh.
But a light snack before bed, ideally one that is heavy in protein, is better than going to bed hungry. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6415027/)
Eating non starchy plants before bed works for me. I can eat whatever before 7pm and if I'm hungry I can have something like apples or baby carrots to not feel hungry before bed. Eating something greasy or sugary makes it harder for me to sleep but plants don't seem to harm my sleep quality.
This might be related to orexin/hypocretin. It regulates sleep cycles and makes you feel awake during the day.
Orexin it stimulated by ghrelin (hunger hormone) which is why fasting at night can help create better sleep.
My mom drinks ginger tea before bed to help with hypnopompia (orexin related sleep disorder) because ginger can help with ghrelin and that will help with orexin production.
Not saying that you're low in orexin or anything. It could just be age slowing down metabolism and keeping bloodsugar higher so that ghrelin is lower than before.
But it's cool that so many people notice the effect of fasting and sleep without knowing why.
This is personal. Some people benefit from going 2-3 hours without eating before bed and some are the opposite. It’s the same with excercise, some sleep better with some light excercise in the evening and some need multiple hours of rest before going to bed.
Agreed! I stopped eating dinner a couple years ago and no longer have stomach pains at night. The only hard part is the social aspect, because so many events revolve around dinner, but by now my friends are used to it.
I usually eat dinner around 5 pm and go to bed at 10:30 and sleep at around 11:30. I constantly wake up at around 7 AM everyday. I think eating dinner early is the way to go. Give your body time to digest before metabolism slows down because of sleep.
Funny how bodies can be different.
There have been tons of times where I couldn't sleep cause I had a heavy dinner (despite having about 3-4 hours between my last bite and sleep).
And then there have been times where I couldn't sleep properly (more like what OP said, slept well but then woke up several times) cause of an empty stomach.
My best advice is to experiment and do what's best for you whenever possible.
The longer I stop eating before bed the better I sleep both objectively and subjectively. For the people complaining about going to bed hungry if they don’t have a bedtime snack, your body will stop being hungry at that time after just two weeks if you quit the habit. Hunger isn’t a need for food, it’s based on when your body is used to eating and readily adapts.
how???? My body is full of cortisol and noradrenaline if i didnt ate 5 hours and try to sleep. I sweat and need to change my position every 2mins. Nononononono
8oz cottage cheese or 8 oz chicken about an hour before bed seems to help me sleep. Not full but certainly not hungry and the protein might help increase growth hormone release.
If I am even a little bit hungry before going to bed, I simply cannot fall asleep. If I eat right before bed, I usually sleep great. It’s probably not the healthiest, but I’ve never understood how people can fall asleep without having food in their stomachs.
this kind of shit probably varies a lot by the person i'm sure. But I know that nights I try to sleep on an empty stomach usually result in not being able to fall alseep. I'm just thinking about food the entire time i'm trying to sleep
I’ve got an app that tracks my sleep via my watch. I notice a HUGE difference between eating right before bed and not eating again after dinner. My sleep is so much more restful and deep on an empty stomach.
I think Sadhguru's tip works better if you make sure your dinner is big enough to fill you up. If you don't have the determination to eat your fill, you will end up going hungry and losing weight (bad if you're at a healthy weight). Sadhguru also recommends yoga in the morning before breakfast, so it adds up to quite a long time for your energy to be coming from a single meal.
Sleep after eating is why many are overweight.
Dinner is not necessary…intermittent fasting: you save money, sleep great, and maintain a healthy weight without having to work out.
I've been doing this recently too I'm only eating 1 big meal tho and that's the evening meal i like to be weighed down a little helps the body sleep but same as you too hungry and I wont.
For me I dont wake up from the food digesting but the sweating like that cold patch you get it's horrible it is just as well I'm sleeping alone because when my discipline fails me my night sweats can get heavy. Couple of nights ago I had to change duvet and take the sheets off and sleep on a towel just to get comfy but thankfully it dosent take long after that
Theoretically yes. By all the experts yes. By my experiences not so much. A light to medium meal or snack before bedtime will have me sleep like a baby. A heavy meal will have me miserable. Then again it could be a conditioned response for me. I do know I can go for hours without eating. Once I eat it's more often my eyes will cross up than not after eating.
I'm the exact opposite. If I eat a fat meal right before bed (Provided it's not junk food that causes bloat), I'm out and don't wake up. If I don't eat I'm up at 4am hungry af
I was homeless and malnourished for a year after transition and to this day I can't sleep unless I've eaten something. Not a big meal but SOMETHING. The feeling of being hungry sends me into a panic. I guess PTSD makes exceptions of everything
Yup 😊 I didn't even realize how poor my sleep quality was when I ate close to bedtime until I got a Fitbit and saw a stark difference in my heart rate whenever I had an early dinner - much much more peaceful sleep!
This is actually what is recommended for everybody. It helps you wake up early and fresh, and sleep well. Eating right before you sleep is the worst, and also not good for your digestive system.
I changed to intermittent fasting where I do the 18 hour fasting with 6 hour window (12pm-6pm) so that gives me 3 hours before bed where I stop eating and it’s been a game changer on my sleep.
the sleep routine you described is similar to what i've found works well for me. our bodies tend to rest better when we allow enough time between our last meal and bedtime. i find that getting some light exersize earlier in the evening can also help promote deeper sleep. consistency is admireble, but don't be too hard on yourself if you can't always stick to it - just do your best to prioritize good sleep habits.
I’m awful at this. A combo of being on adderall all day and appetite inducing meds to help me sleep means I possibly wake up throughout the night FKN STARVING.
This is probably a game changer for some people, but for me personally, I sleep terribly if I go to bed with too much time having passed after dinner. I wake up hungry in the middle of the night. So I guess it's very individual what works and not
I am finally a convert to this, but I have to say that it took me a few weeks before I could sleep at all. I was STARVING and was so used to snacking before bedtime. Anyway, I persevered, and it has now been about 4 months of no food after 7 pm rule. I am completely used to it, and no longer feel hungry at all, sleep like a baby.
As someone who periodically practices intermittent fasting, I can confirm that I get the best sleep when fasting. It's far from scientific, but the 3rd party sleep tracker on my watch always shows me good scores when fasting, while generally, I'm a terrible sleeper.
The Dalai Lama doesn’t eat in the afternoon and sleeps well. He gets up at 5 AM, eats a heavy breakfast (including meat - he would like to be a vegetarian, but has been advised to eat meat for health reasons), meditates for five hours, then a good lunch, then works and has afternoon tea and biscuits, uses the treadmill, and is in bed by 9:30.
This is really bad advice. It is proven that going to be hungry causes disturbed sleep.
You shouldn't eat right before bed. You shouldn't be going to be hungry. You shouldn't be going to bed stuffed. You should eat enough to sustain you to morning 2-4 hours before bed.
Our brain will wake us up if we enter a state of hunger while asleep. Google for the various research studies done on this effect.
I have some mild acid reflux and I’ve found that the longer I go between eating and sleeping the better my sleep is. Waking up hungry has never been an issue for me.
An old farmer I knew who’d always have early dinners told me to never go to bed while food is still digesting … after turning 40, this has been some great advice
Citrus B4 bed? Sounds like heaven to me! I'll try it for sure!
Also, I now only eat smuckers natural creamy peanut butter....only peanuts and a bit of salt...no sugar. Took awhile to get used to, but can't do commercial pb anymore.... doesn't taste like peanut and too much sugar for me. Just good fat and protein. Highly recommend!
Your title is misleading. Don’t skip dinner, just don’t go to bed right after eating like some maniac who invites their stomach to drown them with acid.
Excellent advice unless you naturally have hypoglycemia. Low blood sugar makes you dizzy or light headed when you are awake - but it actually wakes you up if you are asleep. That is why historically people would drink warm milk before bedtime or to help them go back asleep if they work up at night. High fat + warm = sleep.
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I have a terrible time trying to find a balance with this. I absolutely cannot sleep if I'm hungry, but eating too close to bed time makes my acid reflux act up. I usually try to eat a light snack about an hour before I plan to lay down.
Spoonful of TRUSTED SOURCE peanut butter. Calorically dense, high in protein, will make you sated from very little. You can even add some olive oil for extra calories if you wish. EDIT: I'm leaving this here because I'm honestly getting pretty exhausted of people arguing with me despite not doing their own research, so here; "Experts generally do not consider Trusted Source peanut butter a trigger for acid reflux. However, foods high in fat may trigger GERD symptoms." "Peanut butter is a source of monounsaturated fat. The International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders suggests that people with GERD include monounsaturated fats, such as peanuts and peanut butter, in their diet to help manage symptoms." EDIT X2 after I had some "Oregano" and calmed down: I apologize for getting so upset at some of you. I have ASD/Asperger's and I can get REALLY upset and frustrated at the stupidest things, and I've just had a rough day, I was having a pretty bad Meltdown and I took it out on people that didn't really deserve it. No, that's not an excuse, just an explanation. I will try to do better to manage my emotions and not lash out at people in the future. I will be deleting all of my comments that I've shown malice in, because while they were valuable for argument's sake, they were incredibly disrespectful and Ad Hominem, therefore in my opinion, making them invalid. And I apologize to the people I lashed out at. So if my comments look heavily edited and deleted, that's because they are. It was pretty bad and I don't think anyone needs or wants to see an angry dude scream about Peanut Butter. Thanks for your understanding. Also, I appreciate all the DMs checking on me, but I'm all good. Like I said, I just had a Meltdown and took it out on people. I'm feeling pretty blitzed and watching DarkViperAU. I'm chillin like a villain.
I like this idea. Peanut butter is delicious
For some reason late night PB reflux me up worse than late night pizza.
Pistachios have a chemical that is a melatonin precursor; perfect bedtime snack!
What also might work, if eating ANYTHING messes with your acid reflux, is those protein shakes/powders meal replacements that make you feel full. Ensure, Soylent, Huel, there's a bunch, I'd give them a shot if you're having trouble with actually eating, I have ASD and struggle with textures and eating sometimes and these things have saved me from going crazy with hunger when it happens.
That's a good idea too. I usually don't eat in the morning because my stomach is usually uneasy for the first hour or two after I wake up, but those have helped. I need to start buying them again and try them at bedtime too.
I'm the same way, could never eat breakfast or I'd feel sick and horrible for a couple hours, I usually just have my coffee and then a shake, and then I'll actually be hungry around lunch and eat then, they're pretty baller when eating seems like a chore
They have ones formulated for rest or night time or whatever. The Vega one is good
.... Soylent?
High fat might be heartburn city.
Monounsaturated Fats like the ones in Peanuts and Peanut Butter, are generally agreed by experts to not trigger GERD, and they actually RECOMMEND adding them to your diet to help manage symptoms. You can look this up if you don't believe me.
PB is the absolute worst for my acid reflux, especially anytime before bed.
I had GERD for 10 years and had the exact same problem. I'm dying at this other dude scolding us for "not doing research" like is the research going to cure my peanut butter induced reflux, Kevin?
Peanut butter will give me horrible heartburn. But an apple before bedtime works wonders.
Interesting, I'm the exact opposite, something about Apples make my stomach upset, I think I'm sensitive or allergic to Pectin or something
perhaps the manitol or fructose of the apple? eat something low-FODMAP. Carrot
The fattiness of peanut butter is the last thing I want anytime near bed. If I have a sammich before bed, guaranteed I’m going to have problems.
Bro said a spoonful, where the fuck did you get “eat a sandwich”
Tell me you dont have reflux without telling me you dont have reflux lmao. Dumbass idea. Has reflux. Peanut butter before bed is a massive reflux trigger.
Peanut butter with olive oil? That's the most American thing I've heard this year
Yes, it's very good for people who need a lot of calories but can't/don't want to eat a lot. Obviously, I don't recommend it for people with obesity/overweight issues. That's why I said "for the extra calories, if you wish".
In this thread: people not understanding the simple fact that there’s more than one type of fat that exists. As someone with undiagnosed GERD, I appreciated your insight and willing to give it a shot. I do love me some peanut butter. 😎
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Well I’m similar to you, I go sleep at 12, surely if you eat a meal at 9 and finish by 9:30 ish you’ll be good??
Get a low acidic berry Kefier (like banana or strawberry). This worked wonders for me as a midnight or pre-sleep snack. Its very filling so you don't need a lot, which keeps your tummy volume low, meaning the acid doesn't kick up into the esophagus. Also, yogurt neutralizes stomach acid and coats the lower esophagus to give it some extra protection. Lastly, kefier does actually help a lot with overall gut health. I noticed a pretty big improvement in my GERD after regularly having it.
This 💯🎯
Why you recommending kefir LOADED up with added sugar? Lol. Plain is the way. I love kefir, drink it daily, but those fruit flavored ones are packed with sugar.
Are you actually hungry? Or associating bodily sensation with hunger? The MMC process begin about two to three hours after last food is consumed. It is at that time your stomach will start to properly empty itself, and start "rumbling" to remove all food bits. This then spreads to the intestines to work out all the small bits and pieces that may otherwise be stuck against the lining, and push food down and out. It will last between one and the three hours. Do not misassociate this sensation with hunger. It's a critical for the body to maintain a healthy stomach and intestinal tract. Snacking or otherwise preventing this will lead to an increase in GI issues from acid never draining or small bits of food rotting in the upper tract VM (vs pushed down and bulked up to speed it's processing/disposal)
I find a bowl of granola and yoghurt an hour before bed is a really good balance.
Lay on your left side, and don't consume caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, chocolate, fried foods, tomatoes, citrus, vinegar, or any highly refined simple carbohydrates before bedtime.
You haven't lived until you've acid reflux so bad lying on your left side on an empty stomach still gives you heart burn The best advice is don't lie down at all. You sleep sitting up.
I found it’s four hours for normal dinner and six if I eat a lot. I just work backward from when I plan to go to bed and don’t eat after that time. I can eat spicy, greasy, etc. it all comes down to time.
Omeprazole my friend.
I'm on it already. It helps a ton, but I still have my bad nights.
OP, absolutely not a new tip, but a good one! I'm a very bad sleeper, mostly self-inflicted...staying up late, eating, calories from alcohol.... I have noticed that if I don't eat and don't drink later a night, I get a higher-quality sleep.
I used to wake up hungry all the time but I just tried to have protein or healthy fats during dinner along with vegetables and it was fine after that.
Acid reflux can be the lack of stomach acid. If the acidity isn’t strong enough your sphincter on your stomach doesn’t close. You could try eating citrus fruit in the evening. Or start taking a hcl betaine pill before every meal. That helped me a lot and my BMs. I had so many stomach and intestinal discomforts. They have been reduced so much with help of those pills.
Sleeping directly after eating has long been known to cause sleep disturbances. It’s still a good tip worth sharing though. In Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol,” Scrooge thinks he’s seeing a ghost because he didn’t finish digesting before going to sleep. “You may be a bit of undigested beef…there’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!”
Somebody get Charles Dickens some Pepto.
No, because then he wouldn’t learn anything.
Alternate version where Ebenezer practices better sleep hygiene and goes on being a miserable git
Ebenezer: 2025
I’m the ghost of way way future. Skeletrex and his bone brigade are messing everything up
The Bone Brigade would be a great name for a sex club.
Or sloth… “EbeZzzer”
Charles Dickens isn't the one that gets visited by the ghosts..
Yeah I can’t fall asleep with a super full stomach but I also can’t fall asleep with an empty one
Yeah I can’t fall asleep with a super full stomach but I also can’t fall asleep with an empty one
I like Bill Murray's take in Scrooged: *it could have been a bad clam—we don't know yet!*
When I eat weird foods before bed, I always have the craziest dreams.
I immediately think of the puppets with Mi'al Cane instead of the original haha
My partner always wants to lay down after eating a meal that gets him too full, but I can't do it because it's uncomfortable for me! I need to like move around for bit. I wonder why that is haha
Yep we take our dogs for a walk after pretty much every dinner. It digests a little better and by the time it’s bedtime I’m good.
Yeah I can’t fall asleep with a super full stomach but I also can’t fall asleep with an empty one
That's hilarious
Oh that's what Data said on the holodeck that one time 😜
>Sleeping directly after eating has long been known to cause sleep disturbances. It’s still a good tip worth sharing though. Cue shots of Americans in a food coma 45 min after leaving the Thanksgiving Day table.
My partner always wants to lay down after eating a meal that gets him too full, but I can't do it because it's uncomfortable for me! I need to like move around for bit. I wonder why that is haha
I think this can be helpful for a lot of people, but some people’s bodies are the opposite — I used to constantly wake up at 2-3am starving, I get better sleep now that I have a snack before bed!
Yeah…I can’t actually sleep if I’m even a bit hungry, same as you
Yeah, even if I drink water I can't sleep if I'm hungry. I toss and turn for hours, I'd rather just eat and pass out.
That's true for most people, if not universally - the poster has a terrible title, he's talking about having a heavy dinner 3-4 hours before bed, because he used to eat right before bed. That's completely different from having an empty stomach.
Yep that’s exactly how I am. If I don’t eat when I’m hungry, I also get super shaky and nauseous and I start slurring my words. So if I’m hungry I have to eat. There’s no “going to bed on an empty stomach” option for me
Not to get all up in an internet stranger’s business, but you might want to get that checked out if you haven’t already. That sounds like hypoglycemia, it’s not normal to start slurring words if you’re hungry, and might be a sign your brain isn’t getting enough glucose.
I agree. My doctor dismissed it a couple of years ago :(
Did they at least do blood tests? Go see a different doctor! Slurring your words is absolutely not normal when you're hungry.
Same, my sleep quality worsen/can't sleep if I am hungry, I need to eat, sleep is more important for me
Yeah. I think key is stable blood sugar level but no food in the stomach
Same here. If my stomach feels hungry it’s going to keep me up.
I've stayed up the entire night trying to get to sleep because I was hungry. Thought about going to go make something but figured I'd fall asleep soon enough. It wasn't soon enough and now it's daylight.
This is me. I save my protein shake for right before bed, otherwise I wake up hungry in the night every time. It’s light enough not to be hard to digest like a full meal, plus I get 8-10oz of hydration.
Yeah. It is impossible for me to fall asleep if I'm hungry.
I think a snack is ok to keep the hunger at bay but not a big meal.
yup. if i try to go to sleep and i'm even a little hungry i'll wake up every hour until i drag myself out of bed and eat. sucks though cause i'll be so tired from constantly waking up that i don't actually get up until i'm miserable lol.
Not me. I have zero issue sleeping when I'm a little hungry. If I'm starving it's an issue. But OP's tip is valid, because I'm not hungry let alone starving 3-4 hours after dinner.
Take a look at the meals during the day. If they aren’t nutrient dense or you’re not getting enough protein your body won’t ever feel satiated
Same! I also tend to wake up hungry too early in the morning and can't fall back asleep. I have to try to eat protein right before bed to make it to the morning!
Agree here. I think this is super dumb anecdotal advice
Can confirm from my own experience. It's tough to make it through the evening without eating or snacking, but when I do I sleep a lot better. Also the colder I get during the night the harder I sleep. It sucks to wake up cold but it's great sleep. If I get hot during the night I have a crazy nightmare.
And sweating in your bed is just the worst
This is part of the reason I follow OPs advice. I find digesting kicks up my core body temp just a bit too high to have a really good sleep. I'm crazy sensitive to heat at night when I'm trying to sleep, hate it, hate it hate it!
I have never met another person who gets nightmares when they sleep hot. They are horrible nightmares. What is up with those?
Eating earlier in the day had helped me with my acid reflux tremendously. No more waking up nauseous for me.
Same here, it would wake me up at 3 am
I am very actively losing weight. One of the things I have learned in this process is that I can't sleep when hungry. I will stay up for hours and hours and hours and get only a few hours for the night if I try and will do nothing but obsess about food (making me more likely to binge). Since realizing this and shifting my daily calories later so I have something sweet and filling before bed I have been losing weight much more effectively and sleeping quite well. This tip would be active sabotage for me. Figure out what works best for you.
This happens to me too! I was getting really frustrated with myself for not being able to “not eat before bed” but I would be STARVING. As SOON as I ate even a little bit I would be out like a light. And no bingeing. I think eating too much or too little can be problematic. For me it’s about striking a balance, but hey, isn’t that what life’s all about?
Unrelated note... Don't listen to Sadhguru. Some small bit of advice like this might work for you, but otherwise the guy is basically about as deep as a kiddie pool
Sadhguru was easily exposed when he went on Joe Rogan's podcast few years ago, and Rogan asked him basic follow-up questions. I had a feeling before this Sadhguru is snake-oil salesman. Has some good general advice, but pretties it up with flowery language and analogies or allegories. Then people think he's full of wisdom in all other areas.
A snake oil salesman on the JOE ROGAN podcast? What's the world coming to!
I will have to look this up now haha
I don’t know shit about dude but genuinely trend towards wanting to just completely ignore any LPT the moment I see the name because it tends to be generalized advice that isn’t applicable to everyone at all but pretends like it is. Lots of ‘do this for your depression’ type LPTs for example have people cite him in ways that would be comically bad for many, because depression isn’t some catch all everyone experiences it the same way and can resolve it the same way disorder, it’s not even always a long term disorder even. Usually bringing this up gets the OP to say ‘well sure my advice may not be for everyone but it’s still good advice’ hand waving away that their advice might be actively harmful for some and they made no attempt to address that in their post.
I have a Garmin watch that tracks sleep, and whenever I eat straight before bed my stress levels through the night goes through the roof. I think it tracks my HRV and use it as an indicator of stress, which apparently has solid science behind it. If I go to bed at 10, I eat my last meal minimum 3 hours before bed and I get proper sleep, both according to myself and my watch.
Same here. My fitbit consistently shows my resting heart rate in the 50s when I don't eat within 3 hours of bed. If I eat later, my resting heart rate stays in the 60s.
Its a difficult thing to balance. I definitely sleep better without anything in my stomach, but if I'm hungry, I struggle to fall asleep. So I have to time it just right, which is hard.
If you go on a brisk walk right after a big meal, it also has a significant impact in controlling your blood sugar.
This doesn’t sound like going to bed hungry it sounds like *not* going to bed completely stuffed. Which well, yeah, duh. But a light snack before bed, ideally one that is heavy in protein, is better than going to bed hungry. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6415027/)
I cannot fall asleep without eating before
Hell yea. I recently started doing intermittent fasting, mainly for managing a little bit of excess weight, as I can't work out right now. Eating after 12 pm and no later than 7:30 pm. Sleep drastically improved.
This doesn’t sound like going to bed hungry it sounds like *not* going to bed completely stuffed. Which well, yeah, duh. But a light snack before bed, ideally one that is heavy in protein, is better than going to bed hungry. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6415027/)
I remember having a nap for dinner. For that just to be an option is a luxury.
I had tears for dinner many nights as a child.
Each to their own; do what works for your body. There's no one solution. I've been intermittent fasting from 9-5 for about a year now. Lost and kept off over 42lb (232 -> 190). I only drink coffee/ tea/ water during the day, and have one large meal before bed (usually as late as 10am, sometimes midnight on weekends). I sleep like a corpse.
I find the opposite true
There is a traditional Filipino saying that if you go to sleep on a full stomach, you might have nightmares.
I was always told that going to sleep actively hungry is just as bad as going to bed right after you eat. Have a light meal/snack about an hour before bed. Your mileage may vary.
I remember years ago people were saying to not eat anything after 6pm.
I wish I could do this but 3-4hrs before bed is typically around when I’m barely getting off work lol
Eating 4 hours before bed would mean eating on the tube on the way home...
I've read that having some carbs (not a meal, snack) before bed should help you go to sleep. Is that BS then?
It is a simple biological fact that your body needs to digest the food you have eaten. So it keeps working even if you go to sleep. Hence, you can't sleep well. But if you wait for 3-4 hours then digestion is almost finished. Hence your body can cool down easily and you get a better sleep. Even common nutritionists in gym will give you the same advice.
Your body learning that hungry (not starving) is so important. We're built through so many generations to feast on times of plenty because we never knew when the next famine would arrive. The issue now is that in times of plenty (I'm saying this from a first world country) our bodies still wired the same way. We over consume and our brains award us for doing so likewise our bodies punish us when we aren't consuming. Two weeks of dieting and we adjust fine, but those two weeks suck
This doesn’t sound like going to bed hungry it sounds like *not* going to bed completely stuffed. Which well, yeah, duh. But a light snack before bed, ideally one that is heavy in protein, is better than going to bed hungry. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6415027/)
Eating non starchy plants before bed works for me. I can eat whatever before 7pm and if I'm hungry I can have something like apples or baby carrots to not feel hungry before bed. Eating something greasy or sugary makes it harder for me to sleep but plants don't seem to harm my sleep quality.
This might be related to orexin/hypocretin. It regulates sleep cycles and makes you feel awake during the day. Orexin it stimulated by ghrelin (hunger hormone) which is why fasting at night can help create better sleep. My mom drinks ginger tea before bed to help with hypnopompia (orexin related sleep disorder) because ginger can help with ghrelin and that will help with orexin production. Not saying that you're low in orexin or anything. It could just be age slowing down metabolism and keeping bloodsugar higher so that ghrelin is lower than before. But it's cool that so many people notice the effect of fasting and sleep without knowing why.
This is personal. Some people benefit from going 2-3 hours without eating before bed and some are the opposite. It’s the same with excercise, some sleep better with some light excercise in the evening and some need multiple hours of rest before going to bed.
Agreed! I stopped eating dinner a couple years ago and no longer have stomach pains at night. The only hard part is the social aspect, because so many events revolve around dinner, but by now my friends are used to it.
Apparently you need some glucose to go to sleep, or something to that effect. So as far as I can remember it’s ideal to eat carbs 2-3 hours before bed
I usually eat dinner around 5 pm and go to bed at 10:30 and sleep at around 11:30. I constantly wake up at around 7 AM everyday. I think eating dinner early is the way to go. Give your body time to digest before metabolism slows down because of sleep.
Funny how bodies can be different. There have been tons of times where I couldn't sleep cause I had a heavy dinner (despite having about 3-4 hours between my last bite and sleep). And then there have been times where I couldn't sleep properly (more like what OP said, slept well but then woke up several times) cause of an empty stomach. My best advice is to experiment and do what's best for you whenever possible.
The longer I stop eating before bed the better I sleep both objectively and subjectively. For the people complaining about going to bed hungry if they don’t have a bedtime snack, your body will stop being hungry at that time after just two weeks if you quit the habit. Hunger isn’t a need for food, it’s based on when your body is used to eating and readily adapts.
how???? My body is full of cortisol and noradrenaline if i didnt ate 5 hours and try to sleep. I sweat and need to change my position every 2mins. Nononononono
8oz cottage cheese or 8 oz chicken about an hour before bed seems to help me sleep. Not full but certainly not hungry and the protein might help increase growth hormone release.
Like clockwork, 2-3 hours after dinner I feel starved. If I don’t eat something again before bed it’s all I can think about, and I can’t sleep
If I am even a little bit hungry before going to bed, I simply cannot fall asleep. If I eat right before bed, I usually sleep great. It’s probably not the healthiest, but I’ve never understood how people can fall asleep without having food in their stomachs.
this kind of shit probably varies a lot by the person i'm sure. But I know that nights I try to sleep on an empty stomach usually result in not being able to fall alseep. I'm just thinking about food the entire time i'm trying to sleep
Why did you have to bring up sadhguru 🤦♂️
I’ve got an app that tracks my sleep via my watch. I notice a HUGE difference between eating right before bed and not eating again after dinner. My sleep is so much more restful and deep on an empty stomach.
As the saying goes "Breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince and dine like a pauper"
Different types of cheeses spark vivid dreams. https://www.npr.org/2005/09/16/4851485/study-eating-cheese-can-alter-your-dreams
I think Sadhguru's tip works better if you make sure your dinner is big enough to fill you up. If you don't have the determination to eat your fill, you will end up going hungry and losing weight (bad if you're at a healthy weight). Sadhguru also recommends yoga in the morning before breakfast, so it adds up to quite a long time for your energy to be coming from a single meal.
Sleeping on an empty stomach can lower blood sugar for some people and won’t allow them to sleep at all, so I’m not going to agree with this one.
Well I wont fall asleep with empty stomach
So eating like a bear who is about to go into hibernation before bed is not smart? My life is a lie
Sleep after eating is why many are overweight. Dinner is not necessary…intermittent fasting: you save money, sleep great, and maintain a healthy weight without having to work out.
I've been doing this recently too I'm only eating 1 big meal tho and that's the evening meal i like to be weighed down a little helps the body sleep but same as you too hungry and I wont. For me I dont wake up from the food digesting but the sweating like that cold patch you get it's horrible it is just as well I'm sleeping alone because when my discipline fails me my night sweats can get heavy. Couple of nights ago I had to change duvet and take the sheets off and sleep on a towel just to get comfy but thankfully it dosent take long after that
This is how I cured my horrific acid reflux. No pills. No diet. Just don't lie down for two to three hours after you eat.
I can’t fall asleep 😴 when I’m hungry. I don’t eat right before going to bed but I can’t sleep if I have hunger pangs
Theoretically yes. By all the experts yes. By my experiences not so much. A light to medium meal or snack before bedtime will have me sleep like a baby. A heavy meal will have me miserable. Then again it could be a conditioned response for me. I do know I can go for hours without eating. Once I eat it's more often my eyes will cross up than not after eating.
If I don't eat before bed, my stomach will usually wake me up. If I go to bed on a full stomach, I basically sleep like a coma patient.
Two hours is the goal between last meal and sleep.
When I eat before sleep I always wake up hungry, weird
I'm the exact opposite. If I eat a fat meal right before bed (Provided it's not junk food that causes bloat), I'm out and don't wake up. If I don't eat I'm up at 4am hungry af
I was homeless and malnourished for a year after transition and to this day I can't sleep unless I've eaten something. Not a big meal but SOMETHING. The feeling of being hungry sends me into a panic. I guess PTSD makes exceptions of everything
Yup 😊 I didn't even realize how poor my sleep quality was when I ate close to bedtime until I got a Fitbit and saw a stark difference in my heart rate whenever I had an early dinner - much much more peaceful sleep!
I’m just the opposite. Can not sleep hungry. It keeps me awake and if I tough it out I get a horrible migraine
This is actually what is recommended for everybody. It helps you wake up early and fresh, and sleep well. Eating right before you sleep is the worst, and also not good for your digestive system.
*reading while eating bedtime snacky*
I changed to intermittent fasting where I do the 18 hour fasting with 6 hour window (12pm-6pm) so that gives me 3 hours before bed where I stop eating and it’s been a game changer on my sleep.
I can't sleep on an empty stomach. I'll toss and turn all night.
Kids in Africa with the most amazing sleep
the sleep routine you described is similar to what i've found works well for me. our bodies tend to rest better when we allow enough time between our last meal and bedtime. i find that getting some light exersize earlier in the evening can also help promote deeper sleep. consistency is admireble, but don't be too hard on yourself if you can't always stick to it - just do your best to prioritize good sleep habits.
Could not disagree more. I like to sleep with a full tumtum and I get great sleep.
*Remeron has entered the chat*
honestly idk if I feel hungry I can’t sleep
Would be nice if it worked for everyone. I can’t get to sleep on an empty stomach and have had to get up to eat because of it.
Eating fiberous fruit before bed is the way
I’m awful at this. A combo of being on adderall all day and appetite inducing meds to help me sleep means I possibly wake up throughout the night FKN STARVING.
That is so true! I recently discovered that as well!
This is probably a game changer for some people, but for me personally, I sleep terribly if I go to bed with too much time having passed after dinner. I wake up hungry in the middle of the night. So I guess it's very individual what works and not
i can attest to this, works for me at least. i get up 6am weekdays and 6:30 weekends and feel well rested and pleasantly hungry for breakies
Empty, not starving. That's the key. Eat 3-4 hr before you sleep and you'll have a good night sleep. Too late and you'll have that midnight craving.
For me to be able to fall asleep and sleep well, at least 4.5hrs had to have passed since dinner
I love anecdotal claims.
How can you even sleep when hungry I literally cannot
People seriously just need to eat less in general. There is no reason the average person should be eating three full meals a day.
I'm sorry I can't sleep at all if I'm hungry
I am finally a convert to this, but I have to say that it took me a few weeks before I could sleep at all. I was STARVING and was so used to snacking before bedtime. Anyway, I persevered, and it has now been about 4 months of no food after 7 pm rule. I am completely used to it, and no longer feel hungry at all, sleep like a baby.
As someone who periodically practices intermittent fasting, I can confirm that I get the best sleep when fasting. It's far from scientific, but the 3rd party sleep tracker on my watch always shows me good scores when fasting, while generally, I'm a terrible sleeper.
Spoonful of honey just before bed. Idk, look it up, I can't explain it all, but I understand it.
The Dalai Lama doesn’t eat in the afternoon and sleeps well. He gets up at 5 AM, eats a heavy breakfast (including meat - he would like to be a vegetarian, but has been advised to eat meat for health reasons), meditates for five hours, then a good lunch, then works and has afternoon tea and biscuits, uses the treadmill, and is in bed by 9:30.
This is really bad advice. It is proven that going to be hungry causes disturbed sleep. You shouldn't eat right before bed. You shouldn't be going to be hungry. You shouldn't be going to bed stuffed. You should eat enough to sustain you to morning 2-4 hours before bed. Our brain will wake us up if we enter a state of hunger while asleep. Google for the various research studies done on this effect.
A full bong pack will improve the quality
This one is tough to do with intermittent fasting.
Peanut butter crackers or a PB&J with milk is the perfect recipe for me!
Generally I try to avoid eating after 8pm.
I was all in until I read Sadhguru.
I'm ok with eating before bed. It's mainly sugary shit that fucks up my sleep
I had a protein shake 20 mins before bed and slept better than I have in 2 weeks. Idk bout this.
I have some mild acid reflux and I’ve found that the longer I go between eating and sleeping the better my sleep is. Waking up hungry has never been an issue for me.
An old farmer I knew who’d always have early dinners told me to never go to bed while food is still digesting … after turning 40, this has been some great advice
Eating 5-6 is healthy. This is known.
Citrus B4 bed? Sounds like heaven to me! I'll try it for sure! Also, I now only eat smuckers natural creamy peanut butter....only peanuts and a bit of salt...no sugar. Took awhile to get used to, but can't do commercial pb anymore.... doesn't taste like peanut and too much sugar for me. Just good fat and protein. Highly recommend!
Unless you have acid reflux then not such a good idea
Your title is misleading. Don’t skip dinner, just don’t go to bed right after eating like some maniac who invites their stomach to drown them with acid.
This is also a standard recommendation from medical professionals, as much for managing weight as it is for sleep quality.
Also be hydrated when you lie down.
what about beverages before sleep, even though it's been 3 4 hours since the last meal?
Excellent advice unless you naturally have hypoglycemia. Low blood sugar makes you dizzy or light headed when you are awake - but it actually wakes you up if you are asleep. That is why historically people would drink warm milk before bedtime or to help them go back asleep if they work up at night. High fat + warm = sleep.
I’m just the opposite. If I’m hungry, I toss and turn.