Table of contents:
- What are the dangers of sleeping right after eating?
- 1. Heartburn
- 2. Stroke
- Is it true that eating dinner before bed can gain weight?
Feeling sleepy after eating is something that happens quite often, so sleeping right after eating cannot be avoided. Without realizing it, this has a negative impact on health. Have you ever slept after eating and the top of your stomach feels hot? This is one result. Sleeping after eating makes sleep uncomfortable and can also have other effects.
What are the dangers of sleeping right after eating?
Going to bed immediately after eating can make your sleep quality not optimal, it can even increase the risk of diseases, such as strokes. It's best to have dinner a few hours before bedtime. If you are very hungry and have to eat before bed, you should choose foods that are easy to digest and eat small portions, such as fruit.
If you eat a heavy meal near bedtime, you will experience consequences, such as:
1. Heartburn
If you eat near bedtime, let alone eat foods high in fat, you will feel full and bloated. Moreover, going to bed right after eating can cause heartburn, that is, a burning sensation in the upper stomach or sometimes up to the throat caused by acid reflux. This hot sensation makes your night's sleep not soundly.
Dinner nears bedtime may also make you less hungry in the morning so you skip breakfast. Skipping breakfast can cause you to overeat at lunch or overeat unhealthy snacks. This can have lasting repercussions and spoil your diet.
Sleeping after eating also makes it difficult for your digestive system to digest the food you eat and this will cause problems with your digestive system, it can even increase the risk of stroke.
2. Stroke
Research by the University of Ioannina Medical School in Greece shows that sleeping after eating can increase the risk of stroke. This study involved 500 healthy people who were divided into two groups, namely 250 people who had a history of previous stroke and 250 people who were diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome. Acute coronary syndrome is the most common type of heart disease, in which blood flow to the heart decreases due to clogged arteries and can result in tightness in the chest to a heart attack.
This study showed that those who had the longest distance between eating and sleeping were at the lowest risk of having a stroke. Those who ate at least an hour before bed had a 66% lower risk of stroke. Meanwhile, those who had a distance between dinner and sleep for 70 minutes to 2 hours can reduce the risk of stroke by 76%.
This research does not explain why this happened. But there is a theory that eating near bedtime increases the risk of acid reflux into the throat, causing it sleep apnea associated with stroke.
Another theory that might explain the relationship between eating before bed and stroke is that after eating there are changes in blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure. These three changes may have an impact on increasing the risk of stroke. However, more research is needed to confirm this.
Is it true that eating dinner before bed can gain weight?
Some people think that eating dinner before bed can lead to weight gain. However, this is not necessarily true. Weight gain occurs when the calories that enter your body are more than the calories out through the activities you do daily. So if you overeat your lunch more than you need calories and skip dinner, you may gain weight. This means when you eat is not as important as how much food you eat. Lunch or dinner, calories are still calories, which if too much will cause weight gain.
It's possible that eating near bedtime can lead to weight gain because of what and how many calories you eat. Usually people will be more interested in eating foods with a high fat content, such as instant noodles, pizza, or fried foods, than healthy foods, such as fruit or salads at night. This is what can lead to weight gain if you eat dinner frequently. Again, it's not a question of when you eat, but more of what you eat.
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