How to Sleep After Eating Too Much

Sleeping is a relaxing and resting activity for your physical and mental health. Proper sleep has a great impact on your health and helps you to live a healthy life. Better sleep makes your body and mind active and energetic. Sleep at least 7 to 9 hours daily to get proper sleep while if you sleep less then it will cause adverse effects on your health. There may be many reasons that reduce your sleep like a noisy environment, uncomfortable sleeping surface and your bad stomach condition. Your stomach condition is the main reason behind the bad sleep. If you eat spicy or oily foods in your dinner or overload your stomach from food will lead to acid reflux and heartburn that cause obstructions in comfortable sleep. But we will give you some tips and remedies to sleep better after eating too much.

• Sleep on your left side: Your sleeping position is very important for better sleep. Eating too much at dinner will increase gastric juice in your stomach to digest your food. When gastric juice overflows and enters into the esophagus it will cause gastroesophageal reflux (GER). GER causes heartburn and disturbs your sleeping routine. Your sleeping position stimulates GER. Acid reclines on both sides. If you sleep on your left side, you will be less likely to have gastroesophageal reflux while on the right side heartburn and GER is even much worse. Try to sleep on your left side to prevent gastroesophageal reflux and help you to sleep more comfortably and properly.

• Lift up the head of your bed: As you know gastroesophageal reflux causes heartburn. If your upper body is elevated then it will prevent gastroesophageal reflux and heartburn. When you go to bed for sleeping make sure to lift up your head at least 6 in (15 cm) to restrict the acid reflux. Place foam blocks under your back or foam wedge under your pillow to lift up your head and lower body to prevent heartburn and sleep well. 

• Treat an upset stomach with ginger: Ginger has anti-inflammatory and antiulcer properties that prevent  nausea and vomiting. If your stomach is upset and creates problems while sleeping then use ginger before going to bed to heal stomach problems and make your sleep comfortable. You can eat ginger in the form of ginger chews, ginger candy, or ginger ale. You can also drink ginger tea before going to bed to digest your food. For making ginger tea, boil freshly grated tea in water and filter the mixture and drink it. 

• Go for a walk before bed: If you are full after dinner and need to go to bed then this will obstruct your sleep and make you uncomfortable. So for better and more comfortable sleep, make sure to do soft exercise before going to bed for a sleep. Hard exercise after eating is too dangerous and leads to digestive disorders. If you do hard exercise then it is more likely to lead to appendicitis. It’s better to avoid hard exercise like running or swimming. Do a little small soft exercise like walking or body stretching. Walking is best to improve your digestion to lower down your food. You can also do stretching of arms, legs, shoulders and neck.

• Slip into loose, comfortable pajamas: Comfortable environment is very important for good sleep. Try to be comfortable and relax while going to bed. Wear comfortable clothes like pajamas, loose shirts etc to feel comfortable. Because tight clothes put pressure on your body especially on your stomach which causes acid reflux and heartburn. These tight clothes make you uncomfortable and disturb your sleep. So it’s better to wear loose and comfortable clothes to prevent digestive problems while sleeping.

• Dark your sleeping area: Comfortable and Dark environments are the main elements for a comfortable and better sleep. Make sure to dark your room as much as possible. Shut off all lights in your room and close your room curtains and door to block the light coming from your windows and door to make your room darker. You can also use blind folds while sleeping if you are not able to make your room dark. 

• Set optimum room temperature: Room temperature plays an important role in comfortable sleep. Extreme or low temperatures disturb your body and make you uncomfortable. For better and more comfortable sleep, set your room temperature between  12 to 23 °C or 54 and 74 °F. High room temperature will increase your body temperature and make you sweat while low temperature will make you shiver.

• Take antacids: As we mentioned earlier heartburn or gastro-esophageal reflux will disturb your sleep and make you uncomfortable while sleeping. Treat your heartburn or gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) by taking antacids such as Aluminum hydroxide gel, Calcium carbonate and Magnesium hydroxide. Taking antacids before going to bed helps to prevent GER. Make sure to consult with the doctor before taking any antacids because overdose of antacids causes severe diseases. For example, too much magnesium based antacids cause diarrhea while too much aluminum and calcium based antacids cause constipation. Make sure not to take antacids every night.

• Don’t drink alcohol or caffeinated drinks close to bedtime: Drinking alcoholic or caffeinated drinks before going to bed makes you awake and reduces your sleep. Caffeine containing drinks like coffee stimulate your brain and body which keeps you awake. Alcoholic drinks may make you feel drowsy or unstable but it can’t help you to get deep and relaxing sleep. 

• Quit smoking: If you’re a smoker then you may likely face difficulties to get deep and comfortable sleep. Because using tobacco products will cause severe heartburn. Nicotine in tobacco will damage the inner wall of the stomach and esophagus which cause acid reflux or GER. So it’s better to quit smoking or tobacco products to prevent heartburn or gastro-esophageal reflux to become comfy in bed. If you face complications to quit smoking then you should join rehabilitation centers or consult the psychiatrist to stop smoking.

• Space out your meals and bedtime by 3 hours: Make sure to eat your dinner 3 hours before going to bed. Because your body needs some time to digest your meal and makes you comfortable during sleeping. If you sleep right after eating your meal then sleeping will disturb your digestion and affect your digestive system to function slowly. This will lead to discomfort sleeping. It’s better to wait for at least 3 hours after eating.