Time difference between Eating & Sleeping

[rohanprabhu]

I have heard this debate for a long time.. some ppl say that there needs to be a time difference of atleast 2 hrs. between when you eat and when you go to sleep or take rest. Basically, what they say is that after eating, a person should not lie down or essentially not go to sleep for atleast 2 hrs., as it causes fat deposition as the food gets converted to fats immediately. Is it really a bad practice to go to sleep immediately after eating. How adverse can the effects of it be? Is there any documented article available on this issue?

If it is true, I don't understand what "food getting converted to fats" means. Isn't food supposed to get converted into fats [among other things] after digestion? How can taking rest alter the digestive process, in particular the absorption process? Does it, like, slow down the process or something? Even if does slow down, it doesn't essentially mean that the fat depositions should increase.

I'd be thankful if u could clarify.

thanks,
rohan

 

[jim mcnamara]

Gaining body fat has more to do with eating excess carbohydrate calories and fat calories, than sleeping right after a meal.

See this non-science little discussion -
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Does-Sleeping-After-Eating-Make-You-Fatter-47640.shtml

 

[Count Iblis]

Moreover, some researches showed that individuals who are deprived of sleep or get limited sleeping periods are more prone to weight gain than those with adequate sleep times. The lack of sleep induces a drop of the leptin hormone levels. This hormone is known to trigger a fullness sensation, whereas low amounts inflict hunger. More over, sleep loss rises grehlin hormone levels, a compound linked to hunger sensation.

Now, after eating a big meal you won't sleep well if you go to bet right away

 

[Moonbear]

Now, after eating a big meal you won't sleep well if you go to bet right away

That's not true, and I don't know how you got to that point from the statement you quoted.

What the statement you quoted is basically saying is that if you're sleep-deprived, you're going to be craving more snacks because you aren't getting the hormonal signals that say you're satiated.

I have not seen anything to back up claims you shouldn't eat before going to sleep. It may be more of a diet advice for people who are overly sedentary and eat too many snacks...a behavioral trick to get them to eat a little less or get a little more exercise and burn off some calories before going to sleep after a large meal.

 

[Count Iblis]

Well, it just works this way in my case. I eat quite a lot and I don't even have to try to go to sleep within two hours of eating dinner. If you don't eat a lot, then presumably this isn't a problem. But your body needs to work hard to process big meals. You can clearly see this if you measure your heart rate before and after a big meal. When I was a bit younger I used to work out a lot and eat even more than today. My resting heart rate was about 38 beats per minute. During training it would be about 160 beats per minute (I trained twice per day for twenty minutes). After training the heart rate would go down rapidly to below 50 beats per minute. But after a big meal it could rise to around 55 beats per minute.

 

[Moonbear]

Well, it just works this way in my case. I eat quite a lot and I don't even have to try to go to sleep within two hours of eating dinner. If you don't eat a lot, then presumably this isn't a problem. But your body needs to work hard to process big meals. You can clearly see this if you measure your heart rate before and after a big meal. When I was a bit younger I used to work out a lot and eat even more than today. My resting heart rate was about 38 beats per minute. During training it would be about 160 beats per minute (I trained twice per day for twenty minutes). After training the heart rate would go down rapidly to below 50 beats per minute. But after a big meal it could rise to around 55 beats per minute.

That's a flaw in using anectdotal/personal evidence rather than controlled studies to answer questions.

There is, however, a risk for cardiovascular risks in shift workers eating late at night:

Morgan L, Hampton S, Gibbs M, Arendt J. Circadian aspects of postprandial metabolism. Chronobiol Int. 2003 Sep;20(5):795-808.
Time-dependent variations in the hormonal and metabolic responses to food are of importance to human health, as postprandial metabolic responses have been implicated as risk factors in a number of major diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Early work reported decreasing glucose tolerance in the evening and at night with evidence for insulin resistance at night. Subsequently an endogenous circadian component, assessed in constant routine (CR), as well as an influence of sleep time, was described for glucose and insulin. Plasma triacylglycerol (TAG), the major lipid component of dietary fat circulating after a meal, also appears to be influenced by both the circadian clock and sleep time with higher levels during biological night (defined as the time between the onset and offset of melatonin secretion) despite identical hourly nutrient intake. These time-dependent differences in postprandial responses have implications for shiftworkers. In the case of an unadapted night shift worker, meals during work time will be taken during biological night. In simulated night shift conditions the TAG response to a standard meal, preceded by either a low-fat or a high-fat premeal, was higher after a nighttime meal than during a daytime meal, and the day/night difference was larger in men than in women. In real night shift workers in Antarctica, insulin, glucose, and TAG all showed an increased response after a nighttime meal (second day of night shift) compared to a daytime meal. Night shift workers are reported to have an approximately 1.5 times higher incidence of heart disease risk and also demonstrate higher TAG levels compared with matched dayworkers. As both insulin resistance and elevated circulating TAG are independent risk factors for heart disease, it is possible that meals at night may contribute to this risk.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...ez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Postprandial is the term for after meals. If you're interested in more scientific studies on these effects, that is the term to use in your searches.