Is eating at night bad?

[jt5]

I tend to get pretty hungry at night especially before I go to sleep and can't seem to go to bed with an empty stomach. The thing is sometime I wake up with really bad stomach pain and diahrea in the morning. Does anybody eat at night or should it be avoid with crohn's? I know it's a pretty bad habit but I just hate being hungry. Does anybody flare when they eat at midnight or late? If not, what kind of food choices do you eat to avoid the hungriness before bedtime?

I'm thinking of eating a clementine, or should I eat yogurt? :confused2:

 

[HannahR]

I have had this happen to me when I was in a bad flare but it seems like it is bad in the morning because you have gone all night with nothing. I feel like you can probably cut down on the pain in the morning if you eat things that will be easy for your stomach or even really soft. Eating a clementine is something I would advise against and acidic things like that are like putting salt on an open wound.

Usually before I go to bed I have one of my elemental shakes if I am hungry because it is easy to digest.
I also go for ripe bananas, rice cereal with rice milk, apple juice, tea, rice noodles, etc.
Usually they are pretty bland or natural.

I hope you will be feeling better soon

 

[zilla7777]

I agree with HannahR. I go for light and somewhat bland things that don't have much fibre overnight. sort of like snack items. I find that eating late helps me maintain my weight as well as keeping me satisfied.

Examples of what I have before bed are things like tea and biscuits, milk (I don't have any milk intolerances,) bananas; some cereals and rice crackers seem to do alright. Even toast. Whatever is light and contains only natural, somewhat low fibre ingredients.

Crohn's is just one of those things where the symptoms and effects are different with everyone. It's hard to say that it's bad to eat at night, because some people find it's the only time they can even eat. It just depends on the person.

 

[wildbill_52280]

absolutely.

actually one of the oldest living humans ate all his meals before 4pm. only 2 meals a day lived to be 115. also ate lots of fruit.

 

[Sophia]

Hi,

I think I'm in the same boat as you, although I never connected the late eating with the morning D. :/

I can't sleep if I'm hungry, and I am usually hungry in the evenings more so than in the mornings. Ever since I got Crohns, I've felt worse in the mornings, as well....

Hannah's advice on having a shake is a good idea!

 

[rygon]

I found eating shorter than 2hrs before bed to be a bad idea (bloating, pains and upset stomach for most of the day).

I eat earlier now and if still hungry top up on something small (bits of plain chocolate, yoghurt or protein shake)

You are most prob hungry because you were hungry earlier but not you have settled down you have only just realised

 

[UnXmas]

I eat last thing before I go to bed. I started doing this because I always get super-sleepy after eating (after meals during the day, I often can't help but have a nap), so it seemed the natural thing to do. I also need as many calories as I can get, so I need to fit in lots of snacks.

I've heard it's not good for digestion, but personally, I've never noticed a difference. I've heard it's especially bad for reflux/heartburn because lying down makes it even easier for stomach contents to come up the wrong way. But since I end up lying down to nap after meals anyway, it didn't seem to matter. I did try not eating at night and my reflux seemed pretty much the same; I also tried sleeping propped up on lots of pillows, but it seems my reflux is just completely independent of whatever position my body's in.

As for what to eat - the foods that I'm good with at other times of day, I'm good with at night. I never eat a big meal - I eat small meals/snacks of foods I know I can tolerate, the timing doesn't matter so much to me.

But I think this may well vary from person to person. You'll probably have to experiment a bit and see what suits you. Try a small portion of a food you know you tolerate well at night, and see how it goes from there.