There are those that say that you should not eat anything before you go to bed as it will lay on your stomach, give you nightmares and make you ill in some other way. But in reality there are foods that you can eat before you go to bed that actually have beneficial effects. While we are not talking about cooking a full meal here, we are talking about something to curb those cravings that we all tend to get of an evening, especially when we are sat watching a film or doing something productive. Eating something small before we retire for the night can actually give us a comforting feeling. We just need to make sure that we don’t snack on foods that our bodies find hard to digest and that will keep us awake.
Choosing What To Eat
The general guidance offered by healthcare professionals is not to eat anything in the three hours prior to bed, to be honest there are not that many people that actually follow this guidance. It is normal to feel a little peckish before you go to bed, and the more you ignore these little hunger pangs the bigger and more frustrating they will get. There is nothing worse than not being able to get to sleep because your stomach is rumbling, and all you can think about is breakfast. So what you do need to find to eat is something low calorie and low sugar as your body will not be burning off these extra calories while you are sleeping, and the extra energy might just keep you awake through the night. Look for foods that are slow to digest that offer a slow release of energy to keep you feeling full and comfortable all through the night.
Foods to Choose
Remember that it’s not just what you eat but also how much you eat. Don’t go eating so much that you feel stuffed as you will probably be up all night with heartburn and indigestion.
- Porridge & Honey. This actually has a wonderfully calming effect on the body’s nervous system. The porridge oats are calcium rich and filled with minerals that will help you to sleep. The natural orexin in the honey is believed to get the brain ready to switch into sleep mode, another reason why it is far better for you than sugar.
- Cherries: cherries are a wonderful choice as they give a natural boot to the levels of melatonin that are already present in the body, giving you good quality sleep. Fresh cherries are of course the best but a glass of cherry juice or some frozen fruit will have much the same effect.
- Hard Boiled Egg: Eggs are rich in protein and digest slowly, go for a double whammy by eating your egg with a piece of flax bread which is naturally rich in omega-3 which helps with brain function.
- Banana: Bananas are naturally low in fat and high in fibre. Bananas are believed to stabilise the levels of melatonin and serotonin in the brain which assists relaxation and therefore leads you into a good night’s sleep.
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