Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Bed Time Meal

Most of you know about proper nutrition, nutrition ratios and nutrition throughout the day, but what do you eat before bed? Common sense suggests that we should consume a meal with a balance of complex carbs, protein and a little fats. This would be adequate at this time, but I will be telling you a bit more than that. I will explain precisely what you should be eating before bed.

Bed time meal is as important as any other meal of the day. So here is what you should do. At this time you have to consume slow carbs, fibrous carbs, casein protein and even healthy fats. We all know that EFA’s play a very vital role in our day to day activities and should never be neglected. Taking a little of EFA’s will help you to increase the hormonal balance in the body.

At bed time you can consume something like cottage cheese, peanut butter, milk, and any type of vegetable. You can even consume some complex carbs, but stay cautious not to eat too much of them as an insulin spike is the most undesirable thing you need before bed. In simple words, carbohydrates are the main energy source for our body and we won’t be burning much while we sleep and so it is desirable not to take a lot of them before bed.

And of course you should be avoiding fattening and sugary foods at this time. Anyways if you are a bodybuilder you should be limiting these.

Avoid caffeinated food at this time. It is a world known fact that caffeine keeps you from getting a good sleep.

All these guidelines are ok. But the toughest part is keeping the food intake low at night. Most of the people sleep late at night and they feel bored at night. Sometimes they feel that eating is the only thing left to do. Keep yourself occupied and make sure that you are in control of what you are eating. Read a book, watch tv, listen to music and the options goes on and on, just see to it that you don’t eat what you shouldn’t be eating at this time.

All the best...

9 comments:

  1. Comments from Mr.Prabhakar fitness expert
    His website http://www. fightagingsite.com/

    Mr.Prabhakar:
    Some critical aspects need inclusion

    Dinner time - immediately after sunset is best
    Sleep time - 2 hrs after dinner

    Growth Hormone start its work approx 2 hrs after we sleep and works till dawn. Greater the night sleep the better it is.

    GH is not eleased if the level of Glucose is high in the blood. That is why it is advied to sleep 2 hrs after dinner.

    If the Glycemic load was high, wlaking for 30 mins is advised to rduce sugar levels before sleep.


    Biglee:Thanks a million sir

    ReplyDelete
  2. Murli bhai,
    i am too worried about bed time myself...Punjabis luv rotis and as u are aware it is carbo...I try to eat tandoori chicken ,subway sandwich or salads during dinner time and in veg i try soya,tofu or rajma but sometimes i have to take rice along with it...protein shakes 1 scoop whey i take at night but its hardly filling...pls can u suggest me something which is good carbs and can be eaten along with non veg chicken breast or tandoori??

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kaps bhai,

    Bed time meal is not dinner.. This is the meal just before going to bed..

    i too take a couple of rotis and egg whites in my dinner along with some veggies...

    but before bed, i take in little low fat cheese and some almonds.. This gives me the essential protein s and gives me very low carbs so that i take good advantage of the meal

    cheers

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Murali bhai,
    Thx so much for ur efforts to educate us on such vital information...Pls note that many of us are very indebted to you for such valuable info.
    Regarding bed time protein i read on an orkut board on net and found out that since we dont take any nutrition at night such a low carb meal becomes very important...previously i hadnt heard about it so pardon my ignorance...but hey bro its so important as u rightly point out in ur blog....I bought a ON casein protein supplement day before but it tasted really yucky..it was awfull like some chalk paste...i have heard about dynamite elite 12 hour protein which has a combi of whey/casein and egg protein and slowly realeases the protein...do u have expereince regarding this product??can it serve my purpose of taking a protein at nite time? 12 hours seems overly optimistic but even if it can give 6 to 7 hours it should serve me the same purpose as ON bcoz i have heard it taste much better than ON..ur views pls...Thx...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Kaps,

    Combination protein also works very close to casein alone..

    I usually mix my casein with whey(i buy both in same flavour) or i buy combi proteins and have it before bed..

    In my off seasons(not while contest prep) i mix whey with milk and have it before bed


    cheers

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi BIGLEE brother,
    plz advice me on the food we need to take while we do heavy workouts at the gym, i.e u kno wat workouts we beginners of 2months do at the gym, so plz advice ppl like me tat wat food shud b taken, i can take non-veg too,as u said 8 meals per day has to b taken, tas ok, now plz tell me in detail wat meal shud we hav in this 8 discreet sessions, consider tat im taking cytosport whey protein supplyment,whc gives me 16gm protein twice a day....plz reply....waiting for ur valuable responce.....thnx a tonne.......

    ReplyDelete
  7. Prajwal,

    If i plan for a very hard workout then i carry a bottle of water mixed with 30 g of dextrose(glucon d) with 15-20g of whey and sip it throughout the workout

    This in a way helps you maintain your energy levels throughout the workout

    cheers

    ReplyDelete
  8. brother i came across a guy using only the pre work out supplyment, hes a very lean guy, and some1 has suggested him to take this, superpump pre work out supply, how helpful is this to him, n im a average body guy, so how wud it help me ?
    the link to the same pre work out supply as is follows...........http://www.gasparinutrition.com/Home/AllProducts/SuperPump250/ProductProfile/tabid/76/Default.aspx

    ReplyDelete
  9. gaspari super pump is a good pre workout supplement but you definitely need protein post workout also - may it be supplement or whole food

    cheers

    ReplyDelete

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