Is it bad to drink a protien shake before bed?

Question

I tend to eat less carbs during the day so at night I get hungry.

Can I have a 90 calorie 3 grams of crab protien shake before bed? My calorie consumption during the day is less than 1200 (but I am a female who weighs 220 so I have a long way to go)

I eat less than 30 grams of carbs during the day. Thanks

Answer 1

it's perfectly fine to drink a protein shake before bed.

60% of muscle growth occurs at night during sleep. if the body has no supply of amino acids growth will not be optimum. medical study has shown the metabolism only slows by 10-15% (except for the morbidly obese) when you are sleeping. medical study also shows that the more lean mass that you have the less the metabolic rate slows. lean muscle is biologically active 24 hrs a day.

depending on the nutritional content of the meal the stomach and lower GI tract will be empty in about 3 hours. once this occurs the body starts to enter the beginning stages of catabolism when the lower GI is no longer up taking nutrients. this is when the levels of the catabolic hormones cortisol and glucagon begin to rise along with GH.


the longer catabolic hormones are allowed to rise the longer it will take to get the body back into a anabolic state the next day. if you consume a protein shake with some healthy fats about 30-45 minutes before going to sleep you will reduce the amount of time that the body is in the nightly catabolic state.

protein shakes since they are easily digested typically will not effect the ability to go to sleep. there will also be a minimal amount of insulin secreted so fat loss will not be hampered. the addition of some fats will also help to slow gastric emptying.

as long as the protein shake fits in your daily calories for the day it will not be stored as fat or excreted as waste in the am.

the key to maximizing gains of lean of lean body mass is by decreasing the amount of time that the body is in a catabolic state.

this is all Bodybuilding 101...

Answer 2

you can, but it is generally a better idea to take in the calories you plan to burn during the day, when you're most active. Lunch time is usually you're best bet. By drinking it before bed, it will be broken down and what energy is not used during sleep periods will be stored, and hinder instead of help.

Answer 3

Im not sure about females, but for guys you have to consume 1gr of protein per lb of body weight each day, thats also includes food, as it stated in Health and Fitness magazine, you should drink it in the morning, afternoon, evening, half hour before workout and half hour after working out!

Answer 4

It's healthier not to eat something before bed (1 hour or so).

So if you sleep at 11, feed yourself well without anything that suits your diet, at 9:30 for example. That way you shouldn't feel hungry before bedtime.

Answer 5

Yeah, you should drink protein before exercises, because protein is good for cell building. If you drink it before sleeping, I'm afraid it will build fat cells.

Answer 6

you are actually doing good with what you wrote, keep doing it, you run into trouble with excess fat when you are taking on too many calories throughout the day, you need a surplus to build muscle and add mass, but too much will lead to fat gains.

Answer 7

yes