Timing of meals; the effects on our health

Indigestion and Heartburn

Eating a big meal before bed can cause both indigestion and heartburn, this is due to lying down which can cause acid reflux due to not being upright. Experts suggest giving your body some time to properly digest your food before getting into bed.

Big meals in the evening

Eating big meals and snacking at night also has the ability to affect our appetite during the day. Studies such as one carried out in 2013 found that those who eat larger meals or evening snacks are more likely to skip or eat smaller breakfasts the next day (Garaulet et al., 2013).

Skipping breakfast

Studies have shown that skipping breakfast can have various negative favourable health effects including increased weight gain, obesity and significantly increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease, whereas eating breakfast holds benefits in promoting cardiovascular health (Rong et al., 2019).

Weight loss

Garaulet also stated that their findings suggested that those who had a late lunch actually lost less weight than those who had an earlier lunch. This may be due to the skipping of meals that leads to being hungrier later at night, thus eating more (Garaulet et al., 2013).

On the other hand, studies have shown that “structured” nighttime snacking may aid in weight loss by decreasing participants' total caloric intake for the day, probably due to reducing their appetite, this highlights that the choice of snack plays a role. A 2004 study found that eating a serving of cereal with low-fat milk within 90 minutes of their evening meal promoted weight loss among participants (Waller et al., 2004).

There are studies which suggest eating late at night can cause weight gain, but this also may be due to overall dietary intake (Spaeth, Dinges and Goel, 2013). A 2017 study looked at healthy-weight individuals that ate three meals a day and two snacks in the evening from noon to 11 pm within 8 weeks. These individuals were asked to eat three meals and two snacks between 8 am and 7 pm. The results found that eating later in the day was associated with increased weight, increased insulin and cholesterol levels, impaired fat metabolism, worsened glucose regulation as well as hormonal markers that were linked with heart disease and diabetes (www.pennmedicine.org, 2017.).

Overall the effect of weight gain comes down to overall caloric intake, but meal timing may have a significant effect on some. Looking at the research we can conclude that the type of snacks and quantity play a role in this.

Potential benefits of snacking in the evening for some?

Some research suggests that there may be potential benefits. It is dependent on the type of food consumed. Melatonin is a hormone which can aid in circadian rhythms (sleep cycle) (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, 2022). The body synthesises melatonin hormone using an essential amino acid which is known as tryptophan. Natural sources of melatonin can be consumed such as almonds, cherry juice, walnuts and natural tryptophan sources such as canned fish, poultry and whole milk.

That being said..

Foods such as refined carbohydrates, instant noodles, fizzy drinks, desserts and fast food have all been thought to be associated with decreased sleep quality (Katagiri et al., 2014), (Min et al., 2018).

As mentioned above heartburn and acid reflux is common, and eating close to bedtime can exacerbate and even cause these symptoms. If you have acid reflux, you should avoid eating at least 3 hours before bed, giving your digestive system a chance to rest before laying down (Fujiwara et al., 2005). Fujiwara et al found that eating close to the bed was significantly associated with gastro-oesophagal reflux disease within 147 GERD patients (Fujiwara et al., 2005). Foods such as spicy foods have been shown to worsen acid reflux symptoms, especially whilst lying down as well as increase the body's core temperature which has been associated with a decreased sleep quality (Nisar et al., 2019).

Blood glucose

A 2021 randomised controlled trial actually found that within 12 participants, those who ate dinner earlier by 6 pm had a more positive effect on their blood glucose levels as opposed to those who ate dinner later by 9 pm (Nakamura et al., 2021).

The effects of eating before bed really depend on the individual and how your body will react.

Overall...

Eating a balanced breakfast, avoiding heavy meals in the evening and eating appropriate snacks in the evening that are unlikely to affect both sleep quality and eating habits is important. It is also important to remember that eating late can potentially exacerbate health issues such as GERD and avoiding meals for 3 hours before bed can be favourable to those suffering from any form of acid reflux.

Reference list

Fujiwara, Y., Machida, A., Watanabe, Y., Shiba, M., Tominaga, K., Watanabe, T., Oshitani, N., Higuchi, K. and Arakawa, T. (2005). Association Between Dinner-to-Bed Time and Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 100(12), pp.2633–2636. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1572-0241.2005.00354.x.

Garaulet, M., Gómez-Abellán, P., Alburquerque-Béjar, J.J., Lee, Y-C., Ordovás, J.M. and Scheer, F.A.J.L. (2013). Timing of food intake predicts weight loss effectiveness. International Journal of Obesity, [online] 37(4), pp.604–611. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2012.229.

Katagiri, R., Asakura, K., Kobayashi, S., Suga, H. and Sasaki, S. (2014). Low intake of vegetables, high intake of confectionary, and unhealthy eating habits are associated with poor sleep quality among middle-aged female Japanese workers. Journal of occupational health, [online] 56(5), pp.359–68. doi:https://doi.org/10.1539/joh.14-0051-oa.

Min, C., Kim, H.-J., Park, I.-S., Park, B., Kim, J.-H., Sim, S. and Choi, H.G. (2018). The association between sleep duration, sleep quality, and food consumption in adolescents: A cross-sectional study using the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. BMJ Open, 8(7), p.e022848. doi:https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022848.

Nakamura, K., Tajiri, E., Hatamoto, Y., Ando, T., Shimoda, S. and Yoshimura, E. (2021). Eating Dinner Early Improves 24-h Blood Glucose Levels and Boosts Lipid Metabolism after Breakfast the Next Day: A Randomized Cross-Over Trial. Nutrients, [online] 13(7), p.2424. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072424.

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (2022). Melatonin: What You Need To Know. [online] NCCIH. Available at: https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/melatonin-what-you-need-to-know.

Nisar, M., Mohammad, R.M., Arshad, A., Hashmi, I., Yousuf, S.M. and Baig, S. (2019a). Influence of Dietary Intake on Sleeping Patterns of Medical Students. Cureus. doi:https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.4106.

Nisar, M., Mohammad, R.M., Arshad, A., Hashmi, I., Yousuf, S.M. and Baig, S. (2019b). Influence of Dietary Intake on Sleeping Patterns of Medical Students. Cureus. doi:https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.4106.

Rong, S., Snetselaar, L.G., Xu, G., Sun, Y., Liu, B., Wallace, R.B. and Bao, W. (2019). Association of Skipping Breakfast With Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 73(16), pp.2025–2032. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2019.01.065.

Spaeth, A.M., Dinges, D.F. and Goel, N. (2013). Effects of Experimental Sleep Restriction on Weight Gain, Caloric Intake, and Meal Timing in Healthy Adults. Sleep, 36(7), pp.981–990. doi:https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.2792.

Waller, S.M., Jillon S. Vander Wal, Klurfeld, D.M., McBurney, M.I., Cho, S., Bijlani, S. and Dhurandhar, N.V. (2004). Evening Ready-to-Eat Cereal Consumption Contributes to Weight Management. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, [online] 23(4), pp.316–321. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2004.10719374.

www.pennmedicine.org. (n.d.). Timing Meals Later at Night Can Cause Weight Gain and Impair Fat Metabolism - Penn Medicine. [online] Available at: https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2017/june/timing-meals-later-at-night-can-cause-weight-gain-and-impair-fat-metabolism.

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