Creating a nightly routine for yourself is essential for not only your overaalll health, but also to combat morning bloat. If you suffer from chronic bloating (and typically in the a.m. hours), health and fitness experts say it could be due to your evening habits, as some can affect the start of the next day for the worse. We checked in with registered dietitians Katie Tomaschko, MS, RDN, Blanca Garcia, RDN, Dr. Su-Nui Escobar, DCN, RDN, FAND, and Nataly Komova, RD to learn more about 3 common mistakes made before bed that can cause, worsen or exacerbate bloating the next morning.
1. Eating Dinner Either Too Early or Too Late
Eating meals at least 2-3 hours before bedtime is ideal to prevent morning bloat, Tomaschko explains. Garcia agrees, and stresses that eating “too early,” for example, “having your last meal at say 4 p.m.” if you go to bed at 10 or 11 p.m. can cause a “huge gap of hours in which your body is not fed.” When either trying to lose or maintain weight, “it’s important to feed the body consistently, especially if exercising to provide the body with nutrients for repair and recovery,” in sleep, Garcia adds.
Eating too early can lead to bloating if you stay up late, and eating dinner right before bed can also lead to bloating while you’re attempting to drift off to sleep (and when you do wake up!) “Habits such as eating a large meal right before bedtime or lying down flat right after eating can contribute to morning bloat,” Tomaschko says.
2. Drinking Carbonated / Caffeinated Drinks Right Before Bed
Tomaschko advises not to drink any “carbonated or caffeinated beverages” right before bed to prevent morning bloat. She also recommends “sitting up or reclining at a 45-degree level (not all the way flat) after eating, and limiting alcohol and carbonated beverages before bedtime” to help improve morning bloat symptoms. “Carbonated drinks can make you build too much gas, making you feel bloated,” Escobar adds. “Perhaps a glass might be okay, but if you are bloated and drink carbonated drinks often, try removing them from your diet and see how you feel,” she notes.
3. Late Night Screen Time & Loss of Sleep
Staying up on our phones can lead us to sleeping less as we scroll through our social media apps or stream shows in the wee hours of the night. This, Komova says, can lead to morning bloat (although you might not realize it in the moment) as a lack of sleep leads to painful digestion symptoms when you wake. “Screens of our digital devices (phones, TVs, and computers) emit blue light,” she explains. “This light suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone involved in our sleep-wake cycle control. With the sleep-wake cycle disrupted, you are more likely to get less sleep during the night.” She continues that being short on shuteye “causes an imbalance in your hunger hormones (leptin and ghrelin), which spikes your hunger and reduces your satiety.” Before you know it, she says that you might find yourself “binge eating large amounts of food,” which can lead to morning bloat.
To combat this habit, Komova recommends “creating a sleep routine and sticking to it, making your bedroom screen-free, getting a blue light blocker installed on your digital device and wearing blue light blocking glasses” when you do want to use your phone. One rule of thumb all 4 experts would agree on is that getting more sleep (and eating 2-3 hours before hitting the pillow) can help prevent morning bloat.
