When sleep goes wrong, most people blame screens, stress, or staying up too late. What rarely gets examined is what happened hours before bedtime at the dining table.
Sleep isn’t a switch that flips when the lights go off. It’s a process that begins much earlier, guided by the body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm. This clock doesn’t just respond to light and darkness; it also responds to food, caffeine, and timing quietly, consistently, and often invisibly.
Late dinners, heavy meals, or a poorly timed cup of coffee don’t always cause dramatic insomnia. Instead, they subtly delay the body’s readiness to rest. You may fall asleep eventually, but the quality of that sleep—how deep it is, how often you wake, how rested you feel the next day—takes the hit.
One of the biggest disruptors is meal timing. Eating late keeps the digestive system active when the body is meant to slow down. Digestion raises body temperature and metabolic activity, both of which work against melatonin, the hormone that signals sleep.
“People often come in saying they’re exhausted but can’t sleep, and when you trace their day backwards, the issue isn’t anxiety alone but it’s how late and how heavy their meals are,” says Dr Shefali Shah, psychiatrist based in Mumbai. “The body hasn’t been given enough time to power down. Mentally they’re tired, but physically they’re still switched on.”
Urban Indian routines make this harder. Long workdays, late commutes, and social dinners push meals closer to bedtime. Add rich gravies, fried foods, or oversized portions, and the body stays busy well into the night. Over time, this creates a mismatch between physical tiredness and biological readiness for sleep.
Blood sugar also plays a role. Meals high in refined carbohydrates or sugar can cause spikes followed by sharp drops during the night. These fluctuations can trigger micro-awakenings or early-morning restlessness. You might not remember waking up, but your sleep cycle becomes fragmented, leaving you groggy and unfocused the next day.
Caffeine is another underestimated factor—not because people don’t know it affects sleep, but because they underestimate how long it lingers. Caffeine has a half-life of five to seven hours, meaning an afternoon coffee can still be active in the body at bedtime. For some people, even a cup at 4 pm is enough to interfere with deep sleep.
“What’s tricky with caffeine is that people think tolerance means it doesn’t affect them,” Dr Shah explains. “You may fall asleep, but your brain doesn’t enter the deeper, restorative stages as easily. Over time, that shows up as emotional fatigue, irritability, and poor concentration.”
Alcohol often enters the conversation as a sleep aid. While it may help people fall asleep faster, it disrupts sleep architecture later in the night. As alcohol metabolises, it increases nighttime awakenings and suppresses REM sleep, leading to poorer emotional recovery by morning.
Even well-meaning habits can backfire when timing is ignored. Late-night smoothies, protein shakes, or fruit bowls may feel light but still stimulate digestion and blood sugar activity. Spicy foods close to bedtime can raise body temperature or trigger reflux, breaking sleep continuity.
None of this means sleep requires rigid food rules. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s awareness.
Small changes can have an outsized impact. Eating dinner at least two to three hours before bedtime allows the body to wind down naturally. Keeping late meals lighter and lower in sugar reduces nighttime disruptions. Setting a caffeine cut-off—ideally before mid-afternoon—protects deep sleep. And treating alcohol as an occasional indulgence rather than a nightly relaxant preserves sleep quality.
Good sleep isn’t built only in the bedroom. It’s built through the day, meal by meal, cup by cup. When food and timing align with the body’s natural rhythm, sleep becomes less of a struggle—and more of a quiet, dependable return to rest.
