Go to sleep with a full stomach: Here’s why you should avoid it

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Going to sleep with a full stomach is not a good idea. The body needs a lot of energy for digestion, making sleep restless and even leading to stomach problems. Therefore, you should avoid eating sumptuous food before going to bed.

You should not go to sleep with a full stomach
On the subject of eating, countless rules should be followed. One of them is not to go to bed with a full stomach. Behind what grandmother preached to us, there is quite a logical explanation.

To know why you should not go to sleep with a full stomach, you should know the processes of human digestion. In simple terms, our body digests food in two stages or steps.
In the first step, our body pre-digests the food. This process takes three to five hours and usually occurs while awake. The second step is post-digestion, which generally occurs while we are asleep – specifically, during the deep sleep phase.
If we go to sleep before pre-digestion is complete, our bodies start post-digestion much sooner. But to digest food properly, the body needs much more energy.

For one thing, you may sleep more restlessly and wake up more often at night. Because your body has to expend more energy on digestion, you find it harder or impossible to get into the deep sleep phase.
On the other hand, a full stomach can make you feel uncomfortable at bedtime. Digestive complaints such as heartburn or feeling fullness can be the consequences. Restful sleep is then out of the question.
Therefore, you should not eat anything for at least three – preferably four to five – hours before bed. In addition, you should avoid fatty, fried, and spicy foods at your last meal of the day. These require even more energy for digestion.
In the evening, opt for easily digestible food. Fish, oatmeal, nuts, bananas, avocados, and dairy products are particularly suitable.
By the way: Alcohol also hurts sleep. With alcohol in your blood, you wake up more often. Therefore, avoiding alcoholic beverages altogether or switching to water reasonably before bedtime is best.