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Going to Bed Hungry. Is it Okay or Not?

Going to Bed Hungry. Is it Okay or Not?

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It’s okay as long as you have consumed enough nutrition and vitamins throughout the day. 

Feeling the hunger pangs before hitting the bed happens under many circumstances. Some by choice, the others not. 

Reasons you Get Hungry Before Bed

Having irregular eating schedules can make you hungry close to bed. For instance, having a heavy lunch and skipping dinner and vice versa. Generally, it’s advised to have three main meals along with snacks in between. Sometimes, even your healthiest schedules can make you hungry. 

Then, if you’re cutting calories, following a restrictive diet or intermittent fasting, late night hunger is a common occurrence. Especially, if boundaries aren’t met in these different forms of diet.

Next, being tired all the time can trigger a hormone called ghrelin, which spikes up your food cravings. In addition to that, not getting enough sleep also leads to the triggering of a hormone called leptin. This can keep you hungry even after having a good meal. 

Note: Besides the above, malnutrition/undernutrition is also a reason to get hungry before sleep. This happens when you have no or less access to satiating food and consume less than 1800 calories a day. Aside from troubles with late night hunger and sleep, lack of nutrition can completely sabotage one’s physical and mental health. If you come across anyone having difficulties relating to this, help them out and direct them to a charity/non-profit organisation in your town. 

Side Effects of Going to Sleep Hungry

Sleeping is a peaceful activity so if you’re choosing to go to bed hungry and dissatisfied, it can be discomforting. This is mainly true if you are not preparing for a good dinner early at night. Here are a few side effects of skipping meals before bed. 

    1. Losing sleep: You won’t be able to sleep well, therefore, you are tired and the next day, your cravings skyrocket, you’re not eating well, and the cycle continues. 
    2. Gaining weight: If you think starving is the way to lose your weight, it’s incorrect. Depriving yourself of food all day can make you very hungry at night and you can end up eating a lot more before heading to bed. Aside from that,  late night eating can make your blood sugar rise up and lead to weight gain and other health concerns. 
    3. Losing muscle and shape: No matter how hard you workout to build strength and tone your body. If your nutrition game isn’t good enough, it will all come crashing down. Not giving your body enough protein and other necessary nutrients a couple of hours before sleep can be detrimental, especially in the long term. Why? At night, your body won’t have enough protein to convert to muscle, therefore, it will break down the existing muscles for energy. 
    4. Feeling weak: Your body is consuming a lot of energy around the clock. So, heading to bed hungry after a not-so-healthy meal isn’t going to work in your favour. Your body consumes energy even when you’re asleep therefore what you eat today will affect your energy level tomorrow. 

Should You Eat If You're Hungry before Bed?

It’s okay to choose to sleep over food IF you’ve eaten well throughout the day and feel a little bit hungry very close to bed. Your metabolism slows down and prepares for sleep around your regular bedtime so go with the flow and have a good night’s sleep. Also, having a meal right before sleeping can lead to indigestion, more calorie intake, and sleep-related problems. 

If you had an off day where you couldn’t eat on time, have your dinner, go for a walk and head to bed at least after 2 hours. Ideally, there should be a 3-hour gap between your dinner and bedtime. 

However, if you are about to sleep and hungry growling noises have started, it’s best not to sleep with discomfort. There are several healthy snacks that you can consume before bed and not have any issues with your sleep, stomach, and metabolism. 

What to Eat Before Sleeping?

Foods with amino acids: Eggs, chicken, fish, turkey, nuts

Whole grain foods: Crackers, cereal, bread

Aside from the above, kiwi, banana (with almond butter), protein smoothies, pumpkin seeds, yoghourt and green soybeans are great late-snacks!

going to bed hungry

What Foods to Avoid Before Sleeping?

Anything that is fried, greasy, spicy and sugar should be avoided. 

IMPORTANT: If you are following a healthy diet and eating pattern and still feeling very hungry close to bed on the regular, talk to a doctor. It could be related to your health, lifestyle or even any medications you consume. Via oDoc, this consultation can take place efficiently from the comfort of your home. Our network of highly-credible doctors and healthcare professionals are trained to assist you brilliantly that you wouldn’t even realise it’s a virtual appointment. Download the oDoc app here: 

Sources

  • Healthline
  • Cleveland Clinic

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All About REM Sleep and Why it’s Important for your Health

All About REM Sleep and Why it’s Important for your Health

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If you are waking up with vivid dreams that you hardly recall, it’s a good sign. Now, for years, it’s a known fact that not getting enough sleep can lead to heart diseases, risk of dementia and even early death. Right now, there are studies confirming that a phenomenon called REM Sleep can be very beneficial for you. Because that affects how you respond to stressful situations, which in turn impacts your physical health. A full circle, yes. So, what is the meaning of REM Sleep? Let’s break it all down for you.

What is REM Sleep?

Ever seen babies with their eyes rapidly moving? It was in the 1950s, the scientists noticed that mannerism and coined the term ‘Rapid Eye Movement’ (REM) Sleep. If that’s a little too unfamiliar, REM sleep is also known as active sleep, desynchronized sleep and dream sleep. REM is one of the stages of sleep during which you dream. In addition to that, it plays a great role in strengthening your memory and improving your brain in many ways. 

The research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, discovered that those who experienced REM sleep had lower fear-related brain activity when given mild electric shocks the next day. This meant that people with REM Sleep are less prone to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 

REM Sleep usually occurs 90 minutes after you fall asleep. During that period, your heart rate and breathing increases. And there will be a very high brain activity which will lead you towards having intense dreams. 

Remember, this is a normal and healthy cycle of sleep that you should experience regularly. Therefore, we are going to give you a little more insight to understand how dream sleep can be a game changer.

Importance of REM Sleep

How Do You Experience REM Sleep?

To be aware of what your brain and body experiences during REM Sleep, it’s important to know the stages of sleep. 

During a full night’s sleep, you go through all the stages of sleep multiple times. Each cycle takes about 90-120 minutes to complete. With every new cycle, you will spend more time in the REM sleep stage. Let’s say your sleep gets interrupted, you start all over again. 

  • Stage 1 (Drifting off): Your brain waves, heartbeat, breathing and eye movements all slow down. Then, your muscles start to relax with random twitches. 
  • Stage 2 (Light Sleep): Your heart rate and body slow down further. Your temperature drops and eye movement stops. You begin to experience sleep spindles and K-complexes, these cause an outburst of activities in your brain.
  • Stage 3 (Deep Sleep): Your brain functions at its slowest helping your body to relax your way into deep sleep. Waking up someone at this stage is not very easy. Did you know at this stage your body repairs itself, boosts your immune system and restores your bones, muscles, and tissues?
  • Stage 4 (REM Sleep): The brain activity here is similar to how it functions when you are awake. You experience a loss of muscle tone, except for your eyes, that will move rapidly. Researchers have theorized that this happens to protect you from acting out your dreams and injuring yourself. 
In the stages of sleep REM Sleep is the final stage

So, Why Do You Dream During REM Sleep?

As mentioned a little earlier, your heart rate increases and your brain activity is enhanced. Therefore, you tend to experience vivid and intense dreams. To add to that, there is heightened activity in visual, motor, emotional and autobiographical memory parts of your brain. So the areas such as the ones that control rational thoughts are still very slow. Therefore, your dreaming experience doesn’t fully make sense until you wake up and realize it’s just a dream. 

Scientists believe that dreams are like a data dump that is gathered through all our experiences so it can act as a second gut. 

Benefits of REM Sleep

Dreaming

Some sleep experts call dreaming as an overnight therapy. It prepares you for adverse experiences and this is why those with good sleep react better to bad news.

Emotional Stability

Ever wondered why you feel a bit too sensitive on days when you don’t get enough sleep? This is because sleep regulates your emotions, there is a dedicated brain region called amygdala to process your emotions. And that activates during REM sleep. Again, your vivid dreams also play a major role in this.

Better Memory

During REM sleep, your brain manages new learnings and motor skills from the very day. Some of these are added to memory and some are simply deleted off. 

Brain Development

According to studies, REM sleep plays a huge role in brain development. This is why it’s believed that babies spend 50% of their sleep in REM while adults are left with 20% of this sleep.

Waking Up Fresh

If you have a complete night’s sleep, it’s easy to wake up, isn’t it? This is because REM sleep activates your central nervous system. 

What happens if you don’t have enough REM sleep?

  • You could experience forgetfulness and have poor memory as your brain is deprived of memory growth which occurs during REM sleep.
  • Excessive daytime sleepiness. This will lead to many issues including unproductive lifestyle and therefore, sadness.
  • Difficulties with concentration. You will observe a downward pattern of your cognitive performance. 
  • Chronic sleep deprivation or insomnia leads to diabetes, depression, obesity, etc.
Benefits of REM Sleep
If we got enough REM Sleep we can get more benefits among them are Emotional stability, Better Memory, Brain Development, waking up fresh and many more

Ways to Get REM Sleep

  • Sleep in a cool, dark room. 
  • Go to bed at night around the same time. 
  • Power down the electronics. 
  • Relax your body with either meditation or the use of calming mists, etc. 
  • Avoid regular consumption of alcohol, drugs and nicotine. 
  • Stay away from artificial light. 
  • Don’t overly depend on alarm clocks. And use it as a last resort. When your sleep schedule is in sync with your body, you can be up before your don’t-get-too-late alarm bell goes off. This is because multiple alarms can hinder the completion of your strongest REM sleep. 

When should you go to a doctor?

If you’re feeling a bit sleep deprived or feel the effects of insomnia, consult your doctor. Also, there are REM-related sleep disorders. So, if your vivid dreams get a bit too scary, if you experience sudden loss of muscle tone during the day, sleep paralysis or have trouble breathing during sleep, get medical attention as soon as possible. 

With oDoc, your doctor’s appointment is faster and most effective. You can get in touch with the country’s leading GPs over a call. So, convenient that you don’t have to lose sleep over it. 

Sources

  • Cleveland Clinic
  • Sleep Foundation

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Sleep: How To Do It Right?

Sleep: How to do it right

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Written by Dr. Ruwanthi Jayasekara

Consultant Respiratory Physician (MBBS, MD Medicine, MRCP UK, ESRS/ Expert Somnologist)

We wake up in the morning, go through the daily routine and finally, sleep at night. This happens day in and day out throughout our lives. We spend about one-third of our lives sleeping. If you consider a person who has lived up to a ripe age of 90, he or she would have spent about 30 years sleeping. 

Why has nature allocated such a considerable amount of time to spend in sleep during the evolutionary process? Surely there must be some great importance.

Keep reading to find out what sleep is, what happens in our body during the long hours we spend in sleep, how many hours and why we should sleep, and how to sleep right and improve the quality of our sleep. Click here to read my other article on sleep disorders regarding how to investigate them, what tests to do and what treatment is available for them.

So, let’s start with the basics - What is sleep ?

Sleep is not one static state. When we sleep, we go through 5-6 sleep cycles every night. Each sleep cycle has several stages as the brain’s EEG or electric current waves change.

stages of sleep

We go to bed and close our eyes. Initially, we drift in and out of sleep during light sleep, and this is stage N1 in sleep. Gradually we enter deeper sleep stages called N2 and N3. These three stages are called NREM sleep, which is Non-Rapid Eye Movement sleep. As we enter deeper sleep stages, the brain EEG waves progressively slow down. Furthermore, the time we spend in N3 is more significant during the night’s first half and reduces in duration as we get closer to the wake-up time.

After the stages of wake, N1, N2 and N3, we enter REM sleep, which is called dreaming sleep. In this stage, our brain waves, again, look very active. However, our body becomes atonic or almost paralysed. In this stage of sleep, we start dreaming, and we remember our dreams only if we are awakened from this stage of sleep.

What is a body clock?

The amount of dreaming sleep increases as the night goes on. As we spend less time in deep sleep towards the early hours of the morning, we also tend to have episodes of waking up in the morning. 

Our body clocks run this pattern of waking up in the morning and sleeping at night, called the circadian rhythm. The central body clock is situated in the brain in the small but essential organ known as the hypothalamus. There is an area with packed neurons called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which plays a vital role in setting the body clock so that we wake up in the morning and sleep at night. The sun also plays a massive role in maintaining the sleep-wake cycles.  

Many complex neuronal signalling and hormonal interplay go on in the body, especially in the brain, so this cycle happens smoothly. As the sun goes down in the evening and dusk sets in, there is another small organ in the back of the brain called the pineal gland, which secretes a hormone called melatonin. Melatonin is essential in making us feel sleepy. People who take over-the-counter melatonin tablets for sleeping without proper medical advice may have worse sleep patterns than they bargained for due to improper timing or wrong dose.

circadian rhythm and sleep

How much sleep do we need?

how much of sleep do we need?

The amount of sleep we get varies with age, and most young adults report 7-8 hours of sleep. Restricting sleep to 4-6 hours per night negatively impacts our mental and physical skills and performance.

A baby will sleep about 12-16 hours most of the day, and as time goes on, the amount of sleep lessens gradually. A 10–12-year-old child will need about 9 to 10 hours of sleep, and a teen would require 8-10 hours. 

A healthy young adult will need about 7-9 hours of sleep. However, this is a population average. The amount of sleep each person needs is highly individualistic. 

It is essential you find out how many hours of sleep your body needs.  How can you do this? On a holiday,  go to sleep when you feel sleepy and let yourself sleep until you wake up in the morning without an alarm clock. Continue this for several days and calculate how many hours of sleep you need. It may be within the population average of 7-9 hours.

Occasionally, it may also be less than that. Certain people sleep less or more, which may not impact their daytime functioning. If you find out your natural sleep requirement, you must ensure you get this amount of sleep every night of the week.

As ageing sets in, the sleep requirement reduces. An elderly person’s sleep can vary from 5-6 hours of sleep to 7-9 hours. The amount of time spent in deep sleep reduces with age as well. Also, the amount of fragmented sleep tends to increase, especially in the early hours of the morning.

Is it normal to wake up several times during sleep?

Yes! It is normal to wake up several times during any of these stages. We may keep tossing and turning around and go back to sleep. Sometimes, we may remember waking up at night, while other times, we may have no recollection of this. So, if someone thinks that once you fall asleep in the night, you must sleep without any wake periods, that is a myth.

why is sleep so important?

Why do we sleep? Why is it so important?

‘A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in a doctor’s book’. Many studies have been done to understand the importance of sleep.

  • Sleep is essential to rest the brain.

Studies have shown that the brain clears unwanted material called neurotoxins from the brain during the sleeping process.

  • Improved physical health

There is also a clear link between good sleep and improved physical health.

  • Helps maintain a balanced mind

Sleep is vital for maintaining a balanced mind. Otherwise, you become angry, irritable, and depressed.

  • Memory consolidation

There are many harmful consequences of inadequate sleep. Increased risk of cancers, infections, increased forgetfulness, poor decision-making power, increased body pains, increased risk of dying early and increased risk of road traffic accidents are some of the negative impacts of poor sleep.

Tips for better sleep

To achieve the best of sleep amidst our busy schedules, we must know how to sleep right. Following are guiding steps to observe, fall asleep quickly and sleep well.

  • Maintain a regular sleep routine – Depending on your work and family schedule, decide what your regular wake-up and bedtime are. Maintain this routine throughout the week. Strictly abiding by a sleep routine can reduce sleep deprivation.
  • Avoid stimulants such as tea, coffee, cola and chocolates about five hours before bedtime
  • Stop smoking
  • Avoid exercise close to bedtime – It will have a stimulating effect on the brain even though you may think that it causes the body to be tired.
  • The last mealtime before bedtime should be 2-3 hours before
  • Utilise between 30 minutes to 1 hour to wind down, take a wash, change into pyjamas, and spend time on self-grooming in preparation for sleep.
  • It would be best if you stopped using devices such as phones, laptops, and iPad at least an hour before bedtime. 
  • The bedroom must be a quiet, dark environment. 
  • It is essential to avoid napping in the daytime. Instead, opt for short, power naps of less than an hour during the daytime.
  • Engage in exercise
  • Maintain a healthy diet 

If you regularly follow these simple but essential steps, good quality sleep can be ensured. However, if you still have difficulty sleeping, have doubts about your sleep hygiene, or want to find out whether you have a sleep disorder, it is best to consult your respiratory consultant. You can consult SLMC registered sleep consultants or respiratory consultants via oDoc, who can assist you towards a healthier sleep routine.

Dr Ruwanthi Jayasekara

SLMC 25147

Chest Physician

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