Going to Bed with Full Stomach vs. Empty Stomach?

(Joe Williams) said:

Is there any evidence that going to bed with a full stomach is better
or worse for you than going to bed with an empty stomach? I'm asking
about its effect on nutrition and overall health. I'm not asking about
its effect on sleep, as I sleep like a rock regardless.

I like the recommendation is that one shouldn't eat 2-3 hours before
bedtime to reduce the chance of acid reflux because of the horizontal
position of the body. There might be a blood sugar effect that also
needs to be considered.

--
Ron

I had been taking acid supplements, and going to bed a couple of hours
after eating a large meal. I often woke up feeling warm, even when it
was rather cold, 2 to 3 hours later. When I stopped taking the
supplements, this problem was gone. If you are overweight, you are
likely eating a diet that is acting as an oxidizing agent. If so, you
should limit unsaturated fatty acid and oxidized cholesterol intake to
a minimum. Use coconut oil if you want a fat source for recipes;
otherwise, just eat food that contains little unsaturated fat, such as
whole dairy products (do not heat them up). What I found on this
diet, which you can read about on my free web site (listed below), is
that when I ate food that contained a lot of sugar, I gained a bit of
weight. For example, when I was eating a lot of bananas, pineapple,
dark chocolate, berries, and such, there was no weight gain, whereas
when I ate some cookies that were rich in calories, but contained very
little unsaturated fat, there was no weight gain and I remained slim.
Note that people liked the way I looked when I weighed more, but in
any case, while it may be safe to eat a cookie made with coconut oil
as the fat source, if you put a lot of sugar in it, it will likely
contribute to weight gain, so it's important to change your sense of
taste by eating food that is not too calorically dense.

http://groups.msn.com/TheScientificDebateForum-

Corrections:

1. when I say "acid supplements," I mean stomach acid

2. "when I ate some cookies that were rich in calories, but contained
very
little unsaturated fat, there was no weight gain and I remained slim"
should read "when I ate some cookies that were rich in calories, but
contained very
little unsaturated fat, there was weight gain"

3. When I weighed more, I was still on the low end of "normal" for my
height

(Joe Williams) said:

Is there any evidence that going to bed with a full stomach is better
or worse for you than going to bed with an empty stomach? I'm asking
about its effect on nutrition and overall health. I'm not asking about
its effect on sleep, as I sleep like a rock regardless.

It seems like a potentially good weight loss technique to simply go
to bed hungry, since you won't notice the hunger when you're asleep
and you'll burn fat for 6 or 8 hours. But I don't want to jeopardize my
health in some other way by doing so. Sleep is supposed to be the
time when your body rebuilds tissues, consolidates memories, and so
on. Is food in your stomach important for this purpose?

Is there any real data on this subject?

If you are in good health and not prone to "acid reflux disease" ;-) ,
eating before bed will not cause any problems.

Hunger never leads to weight loss, on the contrary, it could lead to
low blood sugars and throw your system off.

Quoted message said:

From bedtime til you wake is the longest period that you go without

food. Normally, the time between meals is about 4 to 6 hours, max. So
if you eat supper at 6 pm and do not eat again until the next morning,
that amounts to at least 12 hours without food. This is not a good
thing. And will not lead to weight loss or an improvement in health,
no matter how you look at it.

Eat an hour or so before bed. Eat something that will fill you up a
bit without eating so much as to make you feel over full. A good
satiating snack will contain healthy animal proteins and fats and
little or no refined carbs.

I suspect that there will not be any data to be found on this. But
common sense and simply trying and seeing what works for you will be
useful.

Try what I suggest and you will find that you will sleep well, not be
starving at any time, you will feel better, and it will not lead to
weight gain unless you snack on refined carb heavy foods.

TC