There’s been talk for years about the importance of stopping eating at a certain time before you go to bed. Experts say it may do everything from help you sleep better and lower your risk of acid reflux to boost weight loss. Now, there’s one more perk to consider: It could support your heart health.
That’s the main takeaway from new research published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. For the study, researchers had 39 people with overweight or obesity between the ages of 36 and 75 do an extended overnight fast of 13 to 16 hours of fasting or a “habitual fast” of 11 to 13 hours for 7.5 weeks. Both groups had to dim the lights three hours before bed.
Meet the experts: Phyllis Zee, M.D., study co-author, director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine, and chief of sleep medicine in the department of neurology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine; Jessica Cording, M.S., R.D., is the author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety; Sonya Angelone, Ph.D., R.D.N., a nutritionist and registered dietitian based in San Francisco.
Compared to the “habitual fast” group, people who did an extended overnight fast—which meant they stopped eating at least three hours before bed—experienced a range of heart-healthy perks.
This group saw their nighttime blood pressure drop by 3.5% and their heart rate drop by 5%. Lowering blood pressure and heart rate during sleep is called nocturnal dipping and is considered to be a healthy pattern, explains Phyllis Zee, M.D., study co-author, director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine, and chief of sleep medicine in the department of neurology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “Lack of dipping is a risk for cardiovascular disease,” she adds.
What’s behind this, and why might avoiding food for a certain amount of time before bed be the way to go? Experts explain.
When to stop eating before bed for better heart health
The participants who stopped eating three hours before bed also had better blood sugar management and insulin sensitivity after taking a glucose test.
“This sleep-aligned time-restricted eating approach represents a novel, accessible lifestyle intervention with promising potential for improving cardiometabolic function,” the researchers wrote in the study’s conclusion. Basically, the participants who stopped eating three hours before bed had improvements across their blood pressure, heart rate, and blood-sugar management, without cutting calories.
Why does how long you eat before bed matter?
The concept of avoiding food before bed isn’t a new one. It’s been recommended across a range of specialties for a variety of reasons.
“Eating a meal, especially a large meal, close to bedtime can interfere with sleep,” says Sonya Angelone, Ph.D., R.D.N., a nutritionist and registered dietitian based in San Francisco. “The body is primed for sleep, not to digest food at night.”
The sleep hormone melatonin rises about two to three hours before bed, which influences your cardiovascular function, Dr. Zee says. Stopping eating three hours before bed “aligns well with the person’s circadian rhythm,” she says.
Your blood pressure tends to temporarily increase after a big meal, which could disrupt sleep, points out Jessica Cording, M.S., R.D., author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety. Not only that, your body tends to kick into overdrive to digest food after a big meal, which can raise blood sugar, Cording says. “Sometimes that can make you feel temporarily alert, which can interfere with sleep,” she adds.
Eating close to bed may raise the risk of developing acid reflux, which may impact sleep, too, Angelone points out.
How does sleep impact health?
Lack of sleep is linked with higher blood sugar and poor blood sugar control after meals, along with a higher risk of developing a slew of other health conditions, including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and depression.
“Research shows that eating too much, too close to bed, may impact your body’s levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can impact your body composition,” Cording says. Plus, “the body processes calories better in the morning, so stopping food intake earlier may also support weight management efforts,” Angelone says.
Ultimately, “There are a number of ways that giving your body some time after you eat can give you better sleep and support overall health,” Cording says.
The bottom line
While the research is promising, it may not be reflective of the general population, and more needs to be done. Not everyone feels comfortable stopping eating three hours before bed, which is why Angelone recommends changing your habits slowly. “If you are used to a bedtime snack, have it just a little earlier until you are eating three hours or more from bedtime,” she says. “Gradually shift your last for intake by 15 minutes a day.”
Cording also suggests looking at what you’re eating throughout the day and for your last meal of the day. “A common issue I’ve come across a lot is where someone is not eating enough during the day and consciously or unconsciously saving their calories for the end of the day,” she says. “When someone gets into a pattern when they’re eating a lot at night, it sets the stage for metabolic issues.”
Cording says it’s often a “game-changer” to eat more during the day and less at dinner. Still, Angelone stresses the importance of having a mix of protein, healthy fat, and fiber at dinner to keep you feeling fuller and stabilize blood sugar. “A balanced meal that’s not too heavy is ideal,” Cording says.
If you can’t do this every night, don’t stress it. “There will be times in your life where you don’t have two to three hours before bed,” Cording says. “Give yourself some grace. It’s not necessarily about getting it perfect every day. It’s about long-term patterns over the lifespan.”
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