Eating before bed can be both good and bad. To minimize fat gains and muscle losses during your sleep, the main idea is to avoid all carbs, and consume a high amount of slow-digesting protein (The Three Types of Protein) and a moderate amount of healthy fats.

Slow Digesting Protein

Slow digesting protein is crucial before bed. If you were to eat anything, let it be cottage cheese. Cottage cheese (low fat/fat free) is one of the best sources of casein protein available. However, for some people, cottage cheese isn’t easy to eat. That’s why there’s casein protein powder. The casein protein takes about 7+ hours to digest. So, if you have 40-50g of casein protein before bed, you’ll be good all night, keeping a good storage of protein so your muscles don’t starve.

Healthy Fats

Healthy fats like flax seed oil, fish oil, or more commonly (and my favorite) all natural peanut butter, are supplemental for protein digestion. The healthy fats in the peanut butter and flax seed aid in protein digestion. Have 2 spoonfuls of flax seed oil, or 2 heaping spoons of all natural peanut butter before bed to ensure that your protein shake lasts, and you don’t get hungry in the middle of the night.

No Carbohydrates.

Fat free cottage cheese, all natural peanut butter, casein protein powder, and flax seed oil all have very little carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are to be avoided before bed, because they will hit you with an insulin spike, leading to a lower Growth Hormone production.

So what should you be eating before bed?
Your best choices are

• 2-3 Spoonfuls All Natural Peanut Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Flax Seed oil
• 30-50g Casein Protein Shake (make sure it’s low carb)
• 1 Cup+ Cottage Cheese (low fat/fat free)