No Eating Before Sleeping

We are not nocturnal animals; when we sleep our entire metabolism slows down. The reclining position causes the weight of the internal organs to press against the very large nerve trunks on each side of the spinal column and shuts off the mechanism that keeps the gastro-intestinal tract active. Even around 2:00-3:00 a.m.‚ our body temperature drops and our energy falls. When we lie down at night‚ the stomach should have its work all done‚ that it‚ as well as other portions of the body‚ may enjoy rest. But if more food is forced upon it‚ the digestive organs are put in motion again‚ to perform the same round of labor through the sleeping hours. The sleep of such is often disturbed with unpleasant dreams‚ and in the morning they awake un-refreshed.

Many indulge in the pernicious habit of eating just before retiring. They may have taken their regular meals‚ yet because they feel a sense of faintness‚ they think they must have supper. By indulging this wrong practice‚ it becomes a habit‚ and they feel as though they could not sleep without food. In many cases this faintness comes because the digestive organs have been too severely taxed through the day in disposing of the great quantities of food forced upon them. These organs need a period of entire rest from labor‚ to recover their exhausted energies.

When eating food before sleeping becomes a habit‚ the digestive organs lose their natural vigor‚ and the person finds himself a miserable dyspeptic. And not only does the transgression of nature's laws affect the transgressing one unfavorably‚ but others suffer more or less with him. Let any one take a course that irritates him in any way‚ and see how quickly he manifests impatience!

If you feel that you must eat at night‚ take a drink of cold water‚ and in the morning you will feel much better for not having eaten.