Printed February 24, 2026 02:28PM
Late-night snacking on juicy, carby meals—ideally whereas standing barefoot within the fridge gentle—is a kind of universally blissful life moments. You end your meal, stomach full, and hazily shuffle to mattress.
However consuming too near bedtime can negatively impression your well being, in keeping with a examine revealed in early February. Right here, Exterior dives into the analysis and interviews docs to nail down the very best time to eat earlier than mattress to attenuate well being points.
When Ought to You Eat Your Final Meal of the Day?
The examine revealed within the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, examined how consuming near bedtime impacts total well being. It prompt that having your final meal three hours earlier than bedtime may end up in decreased blood strain, a lowered coronary heart price, and better-controlled blood glucose ranges.
The researchers from Northwestern College targeted their examine on adults between 36 and 75 who had been thought-about to be obese or overweight. These individuals had been thought-about to be in danger for cardiometabolic illness—akin to coronary heart illness or kind 2 diabetes—however had been in any other case typically wholesome. The individuals, 39 in complete, had been randomly assigned to teams that both adhered to their regular nighttime consuming schedules or adopted a fasting routine for at the least 6 weeks. Most individuals continued by way of 7.5 weeks to accommodate their every day schedules.
These assigned to the management (non-fasting) group fasted for 11 to 13 hours between dinner and breakfast the following day. The folks assigned to the experimental (the fasting) group didn’t eat for 13 to 16 hours, from dinner till breakfast the following day. In different phrases, those that fasted had their final meal three hours sooner than the management group.
Although each teams dimmed their lights three hours earlier than mattress, no different sleep or consuming changes had been required. The individuals additionally weren’t instructed on what to eat, simply when. Researchers monitored each teams’ coronary heart price and blood strain each half-hour from the afternoon till they wakened the following morning.
Limiting Meals Proper Earlier than Mattress Maintains Coronary heart Well being
These within the fasting group confirmed higher blood strain and coronary heart price ranges, in addition to glucose regulation, aka steady blood sugar ranges.
“Seeing {that a} comparatively easy change in meal timing might concurrently enhance nighttime autonomic steadiness (which refers to your autonomic nervous system and regulates physiological processes like respiration and digestion), blood strain, coronary heart price regulation, and morning glucose metabolism, all with out calorie restriction or weight reduction, was outstanding,” says Dr. Daniela Grimaldi, one of many researchers concerned within the examine and a analysis affiliate professor of neurology within the division of sleep drugs at Northwestern College’s Feinberg Faculty of Drugs.
“The 2 to a few hours earlier than sleep are a crucial transition interval,” provides Dr. Kumar Sarkar, a heart specialist at Northwell Well being who was not concerned within the examine. “Melatonin, sympathetic exercise declines, and metabolic price drops. Consuming throughout this window forces the physique to digest whereas attempting to provoke sleep.”
In different phrases, in case your physique is working exhausting to interrupt down a meal earlier than mattress, Sarkar factors out that meals and subsequent digestion can result in intestine motility (meals transferring by way of the GI tract) and insulin secretion—each of which may mess together with your sleep.
What This Means for You
As examine creator Grimaldi explains, the ageing inhabitants is rising—and so too are issues about heart problems, kidney illness, and diabetes. “Time-restricted consuming has generated monumental public curiosity, however we wished to offer scientific proof on how you can optimize it—particularly by anchoring it to sleep, which is one thing everybody does and has profound results on cardiometabolic well being,” she says.
She provides that there was a 90 p.c adherence price within the fasting teams, suggesting that the intervention is “one thing folks can truly maintain.”
For instance, when you usually get to mattress round 10 P.M., attempt to wrap up dinner by 7 P.M. Stick with this routine as finest you possibly can and see how you’re feeling.
There are some vital limitations of the examine to notice: nearly all of individuals had been feminine, which may have an effect on how we interpret these outcomes for males, Grimaldi says. It’s because there are variations between the sexes when it comes to autonomic operate, metabolism, and circadian rhythm.
Plus, Sarkar factors out, the pattern dimension is comparatively small, and the concentrate on obese and overweight people is a bit limiting. Nonetheless, he says the enhancements in nighttime coronary heart price, cortisol ranges, and blood strain had been compelling.
The researchers additionally didn’t concentrate on what individuals ate earlier than sleep, solely after they ate it. However what you eat is vital for sleep and total well being, too. Grimaldi says that “the interplay between meal composition, timing, and particular person digestion charges is certainly value investigating.” In that vein, Sarkar notes that avoiding massive, high-fat, high-glycemic meals (akin to white bread, donuts, and bagels)—which may trigger glucose fluctuations all through the night time that impression restfulness and sleep high quality—is vital, too.
Need extra Exterior well being tales? Join the Bodywork e-newsletter. Should you’re able to push your self, join the You vs. The Yr 2026 Problem right here.
