Have you found yourself laying in bed at night, perhaps in the middle of a Netflix binge, only to see your hand reaching for a snack? Maybe you can’t help but give into your cravings as soon as the sun goes down? Whatever the case, here’s why you shouldn’t snack late at night.
You might affect your memory
Believe it or not, but eating late at night might have some significant effects on your memory. Studied from the University of California proved how eating at any irregular hour impacted our brain functions. As well as having trouble taking in new information, the researchers also discovered that eating at unusual times can lessen our ability to form long-term memories. It seems as though it’s best to stick to the times that we are used to.
It could alter your dreams
Perhaps you find yourself waking up at all hours of the night wondering what your brain just cooked up? Dreams are pretty strange, and they could be about to get weirder if you find yourself reaching for a late night snack. Apparently, spicy foods and dairy are the worst offenders as they can see our brains cook up some pretty unusual dreams. Avoiding those late meals could see us get a better night’s sleep as a result. Who knew?
You might be hungrier
Amazingly, eating late at night means we could be hungrier when we wake up in the morning. That’s all thanks to our pancreas releasing insulin. The hormone is responsible for controlling the glucose in our bodies, but as it processes our meal, it can also release triggers that make us feel as though we are hungry. Although this is a natural cycle that usually happens overnight in our bodies, eating later in the day can interrupt its natural schedule.
You could get acid reflux
Acid reflux is a pain that many of us have experienced over the years – and not one that we want to repeat any time soon. So how does a late night snack leave us in so much discomfort? This usually happens after we have eaten a lot before heading to bed as our bodies need a few hours to process the food. However, going to bed on a full stomach means the acid from our digestive system leaks into the rest of our body and cause tremendous pain.
Your heart might suffer
Amazingly, eating late at night could have more of an effect on our blood pressure than eating a diet filled with salt. It’s shown that a snack late at night is enough to raise our blood pressure, and this can have detrimental effects in the long run – including increasing our chances of having a heart attack. It’s thought the best way to avoid the risk is to eat before 7pm.
While that chocolate or leftovers might seem like the perfect partner to take to bed, it looks as though they could all have some significant effects on our health. It might be tough, but it could be time to head to bed alone after all.
