When is it better to have dinner and at what time? Ideally, always leave one to two hours before going to bed. Know why and what time would be the most appropriate, to avoid indigestion and problems sleeping well.
Taking into account that breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day, there is no doubt that dinner becomes an equally important meal , since with it we keep our metabolism active and avoid feeling hungry throughout the night. Which can lead us to wake up several times and rest badly.
In this sense, if enjoying a healthy breakfast is simple, preparing a healthy dinner is just as easy. For this last meal of the day, it is best to eat light foods, with few calories and no fat. As we know, our body tends to burn fewer calories at night precisely due to lack of activity, hence we should forget about sweet products or products rich in refined flours, and replace them with healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and rich in proteins (such as turkey or chicken breast).
But despite the fact that we have a light dinner, it is always advisable to have dinner at a certain time. Especially at an hour away from bedtime, since if we eat dinner and go to bed after a few minutes, we can interrupt digestion.
While breakfast should be as nutritious and healthy as possible, distancing ourselves from typical but actually unsuitable products such as traditional breakfast cereals or typical cookies, in the case of dinner it is most recommended that it be light.
And what is more suitable? It is advisable, above all, to opt for foods rich in protein and avoid those rich in carbohydrates (simple and complex). In fact, it should contribute between 15 and 25% of the calories consumed daily, but the truth is that in most of the time we tend to exceed this amount.
However, the truth is that depending on the nutritionist you talk to, they will indicate that it is acceptable to eat fruit for dinner or cereals, and who will not advise you at all. The reality is that if you want to have fresh fruit or cereals for dinner, you can do it without problems, since while fresh fruit will always provide you with incredible benefits for your body and interesting nutritional properties, cereals will also do the same (as long as, yes, are whole grain and do not contain added sugars.
What time should we have dinner? When is better?
The time, of course, must be determined according to the moment in which our body needs to eat to be satisfied; that is, the moment we begin to feel hungry.
In the first place, the most appropriate –and recommended- is to establish and maintain a schedule during which to dine on a daily basis.
Regarding the time, it is clear that this is a personal matter of each one. But, yes, it is advisable to have dinner at least one to two hours before going to bed. Therefore, if you are in the habit of going to bed at 11:00 p.m., it is appropriate to have dinner at 9:00 p.m.
The reason? If we go to bed later, our digestive system does not have enough time to digest the food we eat normally, so we tend to gain weight through a greater number of calories.
How many times have you found that, after dinner and going to bed, a few hours later you wake up between dreams because you suffer from an upset stomach, heartburn and / or gas? Those are the consequences of not having left at least 3 hours between dinners and going to bed.
Some useful tips to help you with your dinner:
However, it is best to try to have dinner earlier than we usually do. In this sense, there is no doubt that the problem of many Spaniards who get up every morning sleepy, bloated and heavy, is due to the fact that they either have a late dinner and go to bed immediately, or they eat a lot and in large quantities.
Therefore, our digestive system cannot digest well, we sleep poorly and the next day we may wake up with abdominal bloating, an upset stomach and uncomfortable gas, in addition to feeling lethargic.
Because of this, it is best to try to eat dinner even earlier. The best? Do it between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., to give our digestive system enough time to have done most of the digestion process before going to bed.
And what to do if we get hungry before going to bed because we have eaten earlier?
Although our own body gets used to the early hour of dinner depending on how we practice it for a few days, it is possible that both in the first moments and in some specific moments it can make us hungry just before going to bed.
For these cases, a good option is to prepare a relaxing infusion, which will also be useful to calm our nervous system, our mind and it will be very useful to calm us down, helping us to better sleep.
The most suitable are infusions made with lemon balm, chamomile, valerian or linden. Its preparation is very simple, since you only have to put the equivalent of a cup of water in a saucepan and when the water begins to boil add a teaspoon of the plant. Let it boil for 3 minutes, and after this time turn off the heat, cover and let it rest for another 5 minutes. Ready! You just have to strain it, pour it into your favorite mug and drink it.
