Many a time, we do very well through the day when it comes to sticking to healthy habits. But then just before sleeping either post-dinner or during dinner, we end up making some not-so-great food choices, knowingly or unknowingly. These affect our long term health along with our sleep which in turn can be responsible for many a disease. Find out what are the ways in which this list of food items can affect us and how to avoid that. So here is a list of 13 things that you should avoid eating at night.

1. Candy bars

Any sugary foods, be it candy bars or chocolates end up giving you a sugar rush just before sleep thereby disturbing your restful sleep. You will find it difficult to settle into peaceful sleep quickly. Disturbance in sleep puts your hormones out of balance as well, both the good and the bad ones eg. growth hormone, which has a fat-burning function goes down. Unless you have worked out in the evening, these sugary treats will also get stored as fat in your body.

2. Dark Chocolates

Although considered as an alternative to normal chocolate in controlled amounts when there is a chocolate craving, it is a stimulant and can disrupt your sleep. It also stimulates our metabolism thereby not allowing teh body to be in a resting state.

3. Sugary juices/Aerated drinks

These are the worst kind of processed foods to be consumed by people today, in my opinion. They are not a good choice to be had any time of the day but particularly at night they cause can disturb sleep by giving you a sugar high, add calories quickly which will be deposited as fat and can cause bloating and gastrointestinal discomfort which again does not allow you to stay in deep sleep for long. These include tetra-pack fruit juices, all aerated drinks like Coke, Pepsi, fruit juice concentrates, etc. Anything that is not made at home is processed and heavily packed with sugars.

4. Caffeine

This is a stimulant that doesn’t allow the nervous system to relax thereby not allowing you and your nerves to calm down, a few hours before retiring for bed which is considered ideal. It can also cause irritability and nervousness which is the exact opposite of what we want.

5. Alcohol

For those who are fond of a nightcap after their last meal, alcohol can initially make you very sleepy but later it can disrupt your NREM (Non-rapid eye movement) sleep or deep sleep. It can also act as a diuretic which will keep making you run to the bathroom at night which again disturbs your sleep. It also worsens your breathing as it depresses respiration. This is especially important for people suffering from sleep apnea or asthma since it could make you wake up at night gasping for breath.

6. Refined flours

These could be in the form of late-night pizzas while watching a football match or pasta when friends get together. These are all fast-digesting sugars that give you a spike in insulin and increased immediate energy. First of all, you don’t end up burning this energy before sleeping so you store it as easy fat in your body. These refined flours also interfere with good sound sleep due to the high energy they release. Not to mention that these are dead calories with no nutritional value whatsoever.

7. Fried foods

Highly fatty foods need more work done to get them digested. Therefore more gastric juices secreted, the body works more and it takes longer as well when compared to foods cooked in the normal quantity of oil. Along with all this, if you retire to bed immediately after eating, there is a high tendency of developing acid reflux due to:

• the excess acid production for digesting these foods.

• secondly, your posture immediately after having your meal.

So the body is again not ready to retire for the day as it is still working hard to digest your food and isn’t ready for deep sleep. The reflux results in heartburn which will also disrupt your sleep cycle.

8. Very spicy foods

Although Indians are very used to eating spicy food, many others aren’t. The ability to tolerate spicy food varies from person to person and region to region. Having said that, spicy food is known to increase the basal body temperature and increase the blood flow. This doesn’t signal the brain to relax for the day thereby keeps the body in working mode which is obviously not good for sleep. Depending on, how habituated people are to eating spicy food, sleep will be disturbed to varying levels. So if you aren't one of the brave habituated spice eaters, keep the experimentation for the other times of the day.

9. Acidic foods

This category will include all foods which are acidic in nature. Examples are tomatoes, citrus fruits, and juices, etc. Do not combine many foods that are acidic in nature in your last meal to prevent heartburn, acid reflux, and sleep disturbance if you usually suffer from any of these. But remember as I said earlier, every person's body tolerance and genetic makeup are different and you may be one of those who don't get affected by these foods. The important thing is to listen to your body and if you have certain specific complaints you should know why they are happening in the first place and how to get rid of them. If not, you should continue to enjoy those foods.

10. Green tea

It is known to contain caffeine along with black tea as well which prevents you from falling asleep. Instead, try out herbal teas before sleeping as they contain flavonoids that induce sleep.

11. Chilli peppers

This is supposed to be a great food to induce fat loss as the compound ‘capsaicin’ in peppers stimulates the B-receptors in fat cells to induces the release of epinephrine which is a key fat-burning hormone but taken at night it stimulates the central nervous system which makes us more alert and energetic which is again the exact opposite of what we want. So if you have ever consumed any supplements to boost your metabolism and wondered why you were wide awake the whole night, this is the reason.

12. High protein foods

Although great for your health, these foods consume a lot of energy and digestion for breaking down. This slow process thereby doesn’t let your body unwind for the night. Therefore these protein-rich foods should not be eaten very close to bedtime. Try to consume it a few hours before you sleep, at least 2-3 hours before.

13. Water

Consuming a lot of water an hour or so before bed can make you keep getting up through the night to hit the bathroom. This definitely will disturb your sleep. It is recommended to reduce water intake after 7 pm to minimal. Some people have a habit of increasing water intake around dinner to make up for all the water they didn't have during the day which might not necessarily serve them in any way.

The point

As I mentioned earlier, first of all, be aware of what are your usual complaints regarding your health? Is it bloating, acid reflux, rapidly gaining weight, or just improper sleep? And then go through this list to see which of your habits around eating at night could be causing the problem. Once you have identified the problem you have something to work on now. Try to take out whatever is causing the problem for a few weeks and see the difference.

The best advice that can be given at this point is to eat your meals way before bedtime so that the body gets enough time to digest them before going to bed. Especially fibrous foods and proteins that are extremely healthy but difficult to digest should be eaten 2-3 hrs prior to sleeping.

For the foods which act as stimulants to the nervous system, they should definitely be avoided after sundown or even earlier if possible.

Eat foods that induce the secretion of melatonin which is a sleep-inducing hormone. Eat foods rich in magnesium, potassium, calcium, and tryptophan.

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