Dinner a little earlier
Move your main evening meal a bit earlier for 2 weeks and see if your nights change. The research is still mixed, which makes it a fun one to test.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests not eating a large meal right before bed, and having a light snack if you're hungry later. The NHS says large meals close to bedtime may make it harder to fall asleep.
The research is still emerging. A 2024 review found that most observational studies link eating close to bedtime with poorer sleep, but the few experiments so far disagree, and some researchers think going to bed hungry could disturb sleep too. The idea is only to shift the timing, with the food you'd usually have.
For 14 days, have your usual evening meal a bit earlier, so there's a comfortable gap before bed. Pajdo compares how long you sleep, how much of your time in bed is sleep, and wake-ups with your usual nights, all from your Apple Watch.
One person's 2 weeks is a hint, not proof. Plenty else changes from night to night, so if you spot a difference, it's worth running it again.
Try this
Have your main evening meal a bit earlier, so it isn't right before bed, for 14 days. A light snack later is fine.
Keep reading
Sources
- Healthy Sleep Habits, American Academy of Sleep Medicine
- How to fall asleep faster and sleep better, NHS Every Mind Matters
- Chrono-nutrition and sleep: lessons from the temporal feature of eating patterns in human studies, a systematic scoping review (Saidi et al. 2024, Sleep Medicine Reviews), Sleep Medicine Reviews
- About Sleep, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Checked against these sources on September 15, 2026.
This is general wellness information, not medical advice. If a number worries you, or stays away from your usual for a while, talk to a doctor.