Expert: Thomas Manger, MD, PhD - 6/27/2004

Question
I want to lose some weight. I usually always eat before bed, which is late for me, around 3am. I have heard both sides of the argument wheather it is bad to eat before bed. The side that says it is okay from what I hear says your body is always burning calories, even when you are sleeping. So is it bad for you (bad as in gaining weight) to eat before bed? And what time (how many hours before bed) should be the cut off time to stop eating? Thanks.

Answer
To my knowledge, there is really no truth to the issue of gaining weight because someone eats before they go to bed.  However, my suggestion would be to eat a light meal before going to bed, and put your larger meals at a different time of the day.