Foods you should avoid at dinner, how do they affect rest?

For each meal time, certain types of foods should be included, and for dinner there is a long list of options not recommended by specialists not only because they can contribute to weight gain but also because they affect rest.

Food is a source of energy and according to its components it has certain effects on the body that could, depending on the time at which it is ingested, generate some reactions. When it comes to dinner, there are several foods that nutritionists recommend avoiding because they can disrupt sleep, cause inflammation, generate gas, among others.

There are some foods that nutritionists recommend avoiding at dinner are saturated and hydrogenated fats and vegetable oils, carbonated drinks, coffee, tea and pure cocoa, because they have substances with disruptive effects on rest. Mushrooms for being rich in fiber, celery for its diuretic properties, cheeses, ultra-processed foods and dairy desserts, among others.

Foods You Should Avoid at Dinner and Why

Three nutritionists explain the importance of choosing the right foods at each time of the day, with special emphasis on the foods that should be avoided at dinner time to achieve a longer and more restful sleep, and avoid gaining weight.

One of the keys to losing weight is not to skip any meals, adding to the control of the portions of each food and the time of day it is eaten.

It’s about paying attention to the foods you eat from breakfast in the morning to dinner in the evening.

By dinnertime, the first foods to discard are those that are difficult to digest. “It is important to reduce sugars as much as possible at night, as is the case with chocolate with sugar, as they can activate us and worsen our rest,” explains nutritionist Sandra.

He also suggests avoiding legumes, non-whole grains, citrus fruits and spicy foods. The recommendation extends to saturated and hydrogenated fats and vegetable oils, due to the fact that they are more complicated for the body to process.

Other foods that can disturb rest are carbonated beverages, coffee, tea, and pure cocoa.

But there are more foods to add to the list, according to the experience of two other nutritionists consulted in the Food section of El Confidencial. Rebeca Flores, from the School of Nutrition and Dietetics of the Andrés Bello University in Chile, calls for avoiding mushrooms at dinner time, due to their high fiber content and difficult-to-digest properties, and celery, for its diuretic effects, which can force you to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

He agrees that coffee, chocolate or sugary drinks are discouraged because they are stimulants. Cheese is also not recommended because it contains a lot of animal fat and lettuce because it can cause intestinal inflammation and gas.

Hard-to-digest foods that disturb rest

For Karla, a doctor with a master’s degree in Aesthetic and Anti-Aging Medicine from the Complutense University of Madrid, the first things to eliminate at dinner are: pasta, cheese, red meat, ultra-processed food or sugary drinks.

Henriquez warns that the carbohydrates in pasta can help with weight gain. Hard cheese and dairy desserts, on the other hand, are high in calories and produce stomach heaviness.

Red meat, sausages, ultra-processed food, which has too many calories and takes longer to digest, also cause heaviness and affect sleep.

Finally, he asks to avoid caffeinated beverages before bed because they interfere with the heart rhythm and make it difficult to rest.

Read: 5 Healthy Ways to Sweeten Coffee Without Refined Sugar