[YOUR HEALTH] How late should your dinner be?

For the majority of the people, eating a late dinner is just one of those things. They seem to have taken it for granted that since it’s dinner anyway, it could be eaten anytime after dark! And that’s why many people eat dinner as late as 10pm or 11pm for that matter.

Yet physicians warn that the later our dinner comes, the more danger we expose ourselves to when we try to sleep immediately afterwards. One of the reasons is that as the day wears on, the average person is less active, and any meal can send us to sleep immediately, especially as we are also bogged down by the concern for the next day.

Indeed, there have been cases where people actually regurgitate their (late) dinners through the nose, sometimes getting suffocated in the process.

Continue reading after the cut....

Again, says the General Practitioner, Dr. Peace Asiodu, “Sleeping over a late dinner gives you heartburn, as your acidic stomach contents rises back up into your oesophagus. Apart from heartburn, you also risk other avoidable health concerns due to eating later dinner.”

This being the case, what is the appropriate time to have a crisis-free dinner? Asiodu provides the answer: “You can have your dinner anywhere from 6pm but ideally, not later than 8pm.”

Noting that even after dinner, anyone might still crave food, the physician advises eating fruits instead of any of the heavy foods such as cassava meals, amala, fufu, pounded yam, etc that we are wont to take for dinner.

But beyond this, what benefits are accruable to you when you make it a habit to eat your dinner before dark? Plenty, experts say.

Weight loss

A study published in Cell Metabolism by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California concludes that when there’s sufficient time lapse between your dinner and breakfast, for instance, your body will be able to process your meals efficiently.

The scientists agree that the about 16 hours between your last meal and the next works a magic that only your bodily system can understand, but which will be a benefit to you, health-wise.

This is corroborated by a Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience and Molecular Virology at the Ohio State University, Gary Wenk, who notes that most people have a short fasting period — that is they stop eating only when they are sleeping, while they have a long feeding window; in other words, they eat all day long.

“This feeding pattern is very unhealthy for humans; and that’s why the Centres for Disease Control counsels that you eat early and eat whatever you like, but skip dinner and never have late night snacks,” Wenk recalls.

Again, a group of researchers from Northwestern University published their findings in the journal Obesity, to the intent that if you eat later than 8pm, the probability is that you are taking in more calories, what with the fact that your body may not be able to digest all the calories you’ve taken in, thereby converting them to triglycerides as you sleep, imbuing you with wider waistline as time goes on.

Sleeplessness

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health warn that with late dinner comes possible sleeplessness as a result of indigestion. Meanwhile, lack of good sleep is a contributory factor for heart disease, depression and high blood pressure, experts enthuse.

Again, nutritionists warn that when you eat late, instead of having a good night’s rest which should regenerate the body, “you wake up more tired than when you went to bed.”

Worse still, they lament, the situation is compounded by the fact that any food the body cannot digest ends up fermenting or putrefying in the digestive system, possibly leading to inflammation — a precursor of certain diseases in the body!

In fact, researchers advise, you should give yourself at least two hours after dinner before you go to bed. So, if you eat at 10pm, can you possibly hold the vigil till 12 midnight before going to bed? What if you have early morning appointment that requires waking up before your normal waking schedule?

These are questions that are better answered by individuals.

In addition, a nutritionist with Heinz Nutri Life Clinic, Neelanjan Singh, counsels that “When you have early dinner, you are unlikely to go to bed immediately. You are likely to be sitting up, engaging in moderate activity at home, and maybe watching television.

“In that posture, digestion is better and you will go to sleep when you are not really bloated with food that could lead to acidity and flatulence and gas. Acidity becomes a big problem if you have a late dinner.”

Eat for energy

Experts at healthyeating.sfgate.com advise that “better sleep derived from earlier dinners also promotes positive daytime energy, making it easier to exercise and manage your weight. These attributes also play an important role in maintaining optimum energy levels.”

So, the earlier your dinner, the less sluggish you are likely to feel at wake up; and the more efficient your digestive system processes your food.

Bon appétit!

-Punch

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