Eating before bed

[Tub]

What does eating before bed do for muslce building and recovery?

What should be eaten?

What I do every night before bed is eat some cottage cheese or drink a cup of milk.

[TimD]

Sounds to me like you are right on track. The idea is to have a small snack, containing some protein, and some carb, somewhat low GI in nature, in order to dribble the utrients into your system during the fast to block catabolism. Some even say (Dr. Sear's - The Zone) the a small snack balance in C-P-F might even stimulate gh release. GH is normally released in its majority during the first hour of sleep, and is used for maint/repair.
Tim

[Blackadder]

Ice cream is my Kryptonite, and five years ago (and 50 pounds ago) I would eat a bowl every night.

I usually eat a small bowl of Kashi (Go Lean) cereal with skim milk to keep me out of the freezer. High fiber content, around 11g protein, and it's pretty low in sugar for a decent-tasting cereal.

[Danny]

Since growth hormone is synthesized mostly at night the first few hous of sleeping and after insulin has been synthesized, therefore 3 or 4 hours after your last meal, I believe it's better if your before bed meal is just protein

Danny

[TimG]

I've self-experimented over the years with eating times, and amounts and types of food. I find that I function better eating six times a day--modest sized main meals and three snacks, including something to eat before hitting the hay.

If I don't eat before bed, my sleep tends to be more fitful. I don't sleep as well if I haven't done any exercise that day. I'm one of those who can exercise close to bedtime without any adverse effect on getting to sleep. Even 20 minutes of light aerobic exercise helps me to sleep better.

That said, I usually do best with a small snack, like a cup of cereal with low-fat milk. The milk helps induce sleep. And if I've slept well, I eat better the next day. I don't crave sweets, although who but saints can pass up a little morsel of chocolate sometime during the day.

P.S. FWIW: Some of the best sleep I've had in many years was during the two weeks I had a urinary catheter following recent prostate cancer surgery. I didn't have to get up in the middle of the night to make my bladder gladder.

[Trillian]

What does eating before bed do for muslce building and recovery?

What should be eaten?

What I do every night before bed is eat some cottage cheese or drink a cup of milk.

Try cottage cheese, a bowl of oatmeal (only do this on a hardcore bulk), spinch (or broccoli, green beans etc), tsp flax oil, 5g glutamine

[Fredson]

I read in a Time magazine article that it's good not to eat about 4 hrs before sleep as your body rests better when its not working to digest food? but by the sounds of things that is not a good idea. ?

[George G]

I read in a Time magazine article that it's good not to eat about 4 hrs before sleep as your body rests better when its not working to digest food? but by the sounds of things that is not a good idea. ?

At least from the perspective of muscle building, this is incorrect. You will build more muscle if you DO eat before bed.

[Mog16]

One tip I got from Dr. Berardi is to eat a protein/fat meal as the added fat will slow down the digestion process giving you the equivalent of time release protein so it is used more effectively over the course of the night.

[TimD]

Thats the major consensus that I've heard and read. A small low glycemic meal an hour or so before bed so as to minimize the catabolic state overnight. Some, Dr. Sears, The Zone, even go far as to suggest that it might actually stimulate a greater gh response during the first hour or so of sleep. I think the jury is out on that one though.
Tim

[DeadFrog]

So am I not doing the right thing downing a big protien shake (whey+skim milk) just before bed? Sometimes it's the only time I have in a day to get one down...

[George G]

So am I not doing the right thing downing a big protien shake (whey+skim milk) just before bed? Sometimes it's the only time I have in a day to get one down...

When my pre-bed meal is a shake it's a casein protein with water, OLIVE OIL, and maybe a piece of fruit or some berries.

I think olive oil is a better choice before bed than milk and casein is better than whey, because it digest slower.