Oncologist explains why people should avoid going to sleep immediately after dinner
What’s the ideal time to have dinner before going to sleep? When is the right time to have dinner? Several such questions keep buzzing in the minds of people, especially fitness freaks, amid the hustle and bustle of daily lives. For many, ending the day looks like having your meals around 9 PM or later and then going straight to sleep.
Dr Jayesh Sharma, oncologist and cancer surgeon, based in Raipur, suggests that this is not a healthy idea as it ultimately paves the way “for a very bad cycle of inflammation.”
All about the ideal meal-sleep gap
In a video on Instagram, Dr Sharma quipped that lovebirds nowadays start conversations on calls by asking whether their partner did their meal or not.
“This is important because if you eat after taking the call and go to sleep immediately, then it is dangerous for your health,” he said. He said that having your dinner late at night or even taking a heavy meal at night is “bad for both digestion and hormone level of our body.”
“This even increases insulin and cortisol, while the sleep hormone, melatonin, also tries to increase at the same time. This paves the way for a very bad cycle of inflammation,” Dr Sharma said.
He further cited a Spain-based study that suggested that people having dinner at least two to three hours before going to sleep “get to reduce cancer risk by 20% after some time.”
In the caption of the Instagram post, Dr Sharma stated that most people get the ideal meal-sleep gap wrong, while “their body pays the price overnight.”
“It’s one of those tiny daily habits that quietly decide how your cells age, heal, and fight back,” he wrote.
Also read: Fortis gastroenterologist warns about the dangers of frequent late-night dinners: ‘Increases the risk of blood…’
Have dinner at least 3 hours before sleep
A few months ago, Dr Alok Chopra, cardiologist and functional medicine expert, said that people should consider having the last meal of their day at least three hours before going to bed, adding that there is a scientific reason behind it.
He noted that the rule also applies to those people who are following intermittent fasting. “Sleep is your body’s time to repair, restore, and rejuvenate — not to keep your digestive system working overtime,” he said.
The cardiologist said it is extremely important for people to stop eating three hours before going to sleep. “During sleep, we experience detox, repair, rest, and rejuvenation. Eating a meal just before sleeping disrupts this process because the body gets involved in digestion rather than these other beneficial functions,” he stated.
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
