Late night snacking may sound like a good idea at the time, but the reasons to avoid this activity far outweigh the momentary benefits your taste buds will experience. Think about it -- what good came out of feeding Gizmo after the clock struck twelve?
Related Blog: How Your Diet Affects Your Sleep
Weight Gain
By the nature of the beast, when you are eating late at night, you're probably going to lay down and go to sleep shortly thereafter. This means you're not active, and an inactivity means you're body isn't burning off calories. Sure, even involuntary actions such as breathing burn a small number of calories, but you need to actively be moving around to undo food damage.
Negative Impacts on the Brain
It may not seem like the wisest decision you could make when you're facing the fridge in the wee hours of the morning, but recent studies are finding that the decision alone isn't the only part of your brain being impacted by late night snacking. The interruption of your natural circadian rhythms that happens when you leave the bed and head to the kitchen cabinets actually appears to have a negative impact on the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain responsible for retaining memories.
Increased Acid Reflux
Acid reflux is an unpleasant condition that can impede your sleep patterns and cause painful discomfort for minutes to hours on end. An adjustable bed can have positive effects to help reduce acid reflux, but avoiding late night snacking could be the key to eliminate the condition entirely. Just as with many other situations in life, proactive is typically more effective than reactive.
Increased Risk of Serious Illness
If you have diabetes, there's no reason to tempt your blood sugar beasts and make them even more combative than they already are. However, even if you aren't inflicted with this disease, you may be putting yourself at risk for a later onset by having late night snacking binges. The battle of the blood sugar will likely carry over into the morning, which can start your day off on an unbalanced foot that can affect you as the hours wain on. Some studies also show signs that nocturnal noshing can increase the risk of developing certain cancers.
Now that you've cut out the late night snacking, head over to either location of Land of Sleep, and let us help you find the perfect bed to get you well rested.
