Do You Eat Late at Night?

Today’s topic is one that I often make the mistake of doing myself. And that is eating a big dinner too late at night. It’s very common that on a full and busy day, that I don’t get home until 8pm, and by the time I’ve prepared something to eat and actually consumed it, it’s 9:30pm or sometimes even later. And when I do this, I really notice it. I end up going to sleep much later than I would like, and my sleep can often be more restless and I wake up feeling groggy and sluggish. This makes sense since according to Chinese medicine, food stagnation, which can be caused by eating heavy foods too late at night, can cause insomnia and poor quality sleep.

Why is this?

For most of us, the time between dinner and breakfast is the longest period of time that we go in our daily lives between eating. During this time, the body starts to fast, hence the name of the morning meal as break-fast. Fasting is an incredibly important time for the body to detoxify, clean-out, and heal all manner of systems. This is the time that the liver gets to properly process all the toxins that we are exposed to (and ingest) every day. Think of it like the factory that closes down to deep clean, repair and retool. If there is still production happening, and raw materials being delivered, then there is only so much deep-clean and repair work that can be done.

Already in our society of abundant food, most of us don’t get enough time in the fasting state. And when we eat late at night, we rob it of what little time it was getting. The body is still busy digesting dinner, with no (or diminished) ability to do the crucial healing that can be done so much more easily when the digestive system is empty.

What to do about it?

The simple answer is, don’t eat a big meal too late! But this is often easier said than done. I have experimented with several options that I’ve found have helped a lot though. First is to just eat a little bit of light, easily-digested food when eating later at night. Soups and smoothies are great for this. I will often have a smoothie when I get home later, and plan on having a more substantial meal the following morning. Planning ahead is key here. If I know I won’t be able to eat until later, I will prepare a smoothie in the morning, or grab some soup at the market on the way home.

And sometimes I’ll just skip dinner altogether, and just go to bed earlier. When I do either of these, I find I sleep MUCH better, and wake up feeling much more refreshed. For some this might sound scary, but once you get used to it, it’s really not bad at all.

Of course these are the things that work for me, and they might not be right for you. Each of us is different and at different places in our lives, so it’s up to each of us to figure out what that right thing is. Thanks for reading!