This Is The Best Time To Eat Dinner If You Want To Sleep Through The Night

"This allows adequate time for digestion, thereby reducing any possible disruption to sleep caused by poor digestion," Polos says of the three-hour window. This is especially important when eating protein-rich or fatty foods, like meat or fish, which tend to take a bit longer to digest.

Eating too early in the evening won't do your sleep any favors either, though, since going to bed hungry can lead to blood sugar dips that wake you up in the middle of the night. Wrapping up right around three hours before bed seems to be the sweet spot for most people.

However, if you can't nail this timing night after night, neuroscientist and sleep expert Sofia Axelrod, Ph.D., of Kulala says not to stress. From her perspective, it's just as important (if not more so) to eat dinner at roughly the same time every night, whenever that may be. "It matters more that your eating times remain as constant as possible from day to day than whether they are one hour before bedtime or three hours," she tells mbg.

Sorry, late-night sweet tooths, but Polos encourages you to wrap up desserts within that three-hour window too if sleep is a priority. If you do end up feeling peckish closer to bedtime, he and Axelrod both recommend options that are low in added sugar and higher in fiber and unsaturated fats. Things like fruit, nuts, and nut butter are all healthy options that won't slow down your digestion or spike your blood sugar in the middle of the night. Axelrod adds that foods containing tryptophan and melatonin can also trigger sleepiness, so milk, oats, and chocolate can also have a place in your dessert lineup as long as you don't have sensitivities to these foods.

"It should be noted that the relationship between sleep and diet is two-way," adds Polos, meaning that the healthier your diet, the better your sleep will be, and the easier it will be for you to make healthy food choices.