Casein Pre bed no more!

[T-Bone]

Since I have cut out casein before bed I have had much better sleep. Whenever I do take it before bed I have to get up to piss constantly and just can't sleep as well. Even if I wait a full 4 hours after taking it to go to sleep I still have trouble sleeping. I think that the fasting you do when sleeping is much better than drinking a casein drink before bed. You just are not suppose to go to bed with a full stomach. I feel a lot better when I don't drink casein before bed, because of the better sleep I get. Now casein during the day is a different story....I would rather have a casein/whey mix durning the day or straight casein...

[The_Reverend]

I'm with you on that one. I used to pound down a protein shake before bed for months and started to lose definition in my midsection. Once I stopped, I noticed I was sleeping better and got back my abs.

[JJC]

Whenever I do take it before bed I have to get up to piss constantly and just can't sleep as well...You just are not suppose to go to bed with a full stomach.

Maybe use less water? Less water=less volume=not full stomach. I always find it hard to sleep when I'm uncomfortably full. But I've never had a problem because it was specifically casein. Being stuffed is not a good feeling...even when awake.

It makes sense that you would be storing more fat when eating/drinking a shake before bed though. You're going to sleep and although you've been working out, your metabolism is going to slow down a bit. I think if you're trying to grow, IMO it's good to have something small before bed(timing is up to you).

If you're looking to maintain/cut, then you might want to skip that meal so close to bedtime.

It's a tough call though and is definitely something that everyone should play around with to find their sweet spot. To each his own.

[pensword]

Nutritionists consider cow's casein as one of the most allergenic substances in the human diet, perhaps the most. Did you know that pharmaceutical researchers induce a hypercholesterolemia into lab animals (not by giving them eggs or butter), but by feeding them casein and dextrose? Many scientific papers published on this.

Scrap the casein prebed-time, and eat some beef or turkey or chicken. It digests slower, is better for you, and you'll feel much clearer-headed in the morning.

[Dancebot 2000]

Although I believe you guys with your results, I disagree for the majority of the population. Micellar casein is absorbed slower than any other protien, keeping you in a positive nitrogen balance, and therefore in an anabolic state. I have personally had great results with it (combining it with a little whey) in losing fat while maintaining muscle. Perhaps in individuals it is an allerginic reaction as Pensword eluded to.

Although I must confess, I do have my sleep interupted by having to get up and pee.

[jbono731]

You just are not suppose to go to bed with a full stomach.

I think that your are correct in the sense that you shouldn't be full. I do however feel that if you are trying to gain size, the time you spend sleeping is crutial. If you have no intake before bed your muscles have nothing to draw from for regeneration (not good at all), and the fact that you will be sleeping for hopefully 7-8 hours makes this worse. If you have to scratch your Casein pre bed you should still have something in your stomach. I would recommend eating non-fat cottage cheese. The protein in the cottage cheese is broken down and absorbed very slow. By eating 1-2 servings you will have a decent amount of protein in you for the majority of your sleep, and it is very light (so you won't really feel as if you ate before bed). Just something to think about. Good luck.

[T-Bone]

I think that your are correct in the sense that you shouldn't be full. I do however feel that if you are trying to gain size, the time you spend sleeping is crutial. If you have no intake before bed your muscles have nothing to draw from for regeneration (not good at all), and the fact that you will be sleeping for hopefully 7-8 hours makes this worse. If you have to scratch your Casein pre bed you should still have something in your stomach. I would recommend eating non-fat cottage cheese. The protein in the cottage cheese is broken down and absorbed very slow. By eating 1-2 servings you will have a decent amount of protein in you for the majority of your sleep, and it is very light (so you won't really feel as if you ate before bed). Just something to think about. Good luck.

I don't know about having something in your stomach before bed. It is better to go to bed on an empty stomach in my opinion. Nothing to draw on?. I don't know about that either. When you sleep is when you recover. I am not talking about just recovery from exercise. I am talking about recovery from living, from life. Healing woulds, getting better from a sickness. I have always heard people say not to eat before bed. The only time I ever heard of drinking a casein shake before bed was within sports/fitness advertisements for casein protein!. I can see the point of drinking it in between meals and how you are better off because of the slow digestion. When you are asleep though your body needs rest, it doesn't need to be concentrating on digesting your food. When I drink casein before bed, even a full 4 hours before I lay down I get worse sleep than if I don't eat or drink anything. So what would be the point of me continuing to drink casein before bed?....Its not going to be helping me if I get poor sleep/little sleep. I would reap more benefits from getting better sleep. Better sleep = better recovery.....The casein is not helpful one bit, except for between meals or when you have to go out and won't be able to eat for a while, not before bed!.

[eatingisfun]

Cottage cheese still contains a lot of casein.

[luke1984]

Cottage cheese still contains a lot of casein.

The weird part about this is that I always eat 500grams of cottage cheese before going to bed, and I almost never have to pee at night.
But if I drink a whey shake like 1 hour before going to bed I have to piss all the time. It has nothing to do with the fluid I drink because if I drink 16 ounces of just water before sleeping I don't have that problem.

[pudzian2]

If your last meal is say an hour before you hit the sack, then I don't necessarily recommend pounding down another protein shake unless, A. you are hungry, B. You are bulking and trying to gain weight (or on anabolics which would help utilize the protein more efficiently). What I do is phase out starches and wheats\grains etc towards the end of the day and replace them with fiber (greens) and fats. I don't find myself craving carbs either, and in turn I am not bloated or anything when going to bed or upon waking. i happen to time my meals so that one of them falls an about 45 mins before I fall asleep. I usually just drink a whey shake in water with a handful of almonds or some natty pb. One should try to fill and maintain their glycogen stores throughout the beginning and middle of the day, where the carbs are more likely to do this, and if you over eat carbs, they will be used as energy hopefully. At night time they would probably just be stored(...as fat).

Takes some time to see how it will work for your body and your schedule.

Another thing is if you eat a balanced meal on your normal (e.g every three hour schedule) and its about two hours before bed...have some BCAA's or EAA's before right before bed, with maybe some fish oils or fats (cumulatively =many fewer calories.) and if you find yourself hungry when you wake up to urinate (which you should if your drinking enough) then have a little casein with some amino's....Dont forget that you will be eating a balanced carb rich breakfast upon waking to fill up those glycogen stores for the next day. If your stores do happen to deplete whilst sleeping, then you still have a steady stream of amino's (from the BCAA's and the bit of casein if you have that too.) and your body should [i]hopefully[i] resort to stored fat to burn for energy once the blood glucose is too low.

Glutamine=good before bed too

[dhuge67]

Actually, humans were definitely meant to go to bed after having recently eaten.

[pudzian2]

Actually, humans were definitely meant to go to bed after having recently eaten.

Humans are meant to eat when they are hungry

[cruisir10]

I'm with you on that one. I used to pound down a protein shake before bed for months and started to lose definition in my midsection. Once I stopped, I noticed I was sleeping better and got back my abs.

I'd have to agree with you on that one. I actually noticed this a while back. When I used to have a shake before bed, I notice I would carry more weight in the midsection. Than what I did was cut it out before bed and that helped with the excessive weight in the waist area.

What I try to do now is have a shake or some food approx. 3 hours or so before bed.

[dhuge67]

Humans are meant to eat when they are hungry

Actually, if you think about the way it worked in ancient times then you'd realize that the day was spent trying to gather (or kill) the meal, which would be eaten at night.

[Force of Green]

How about this: Different strokes for different folks? I sometimes have some protein pudding before bed, sometimes I have a bit of low sodium cottage cheese, sometimes I have some broiled chicken or turkey... sometimes I have nothing that's very close to bedtime. I believe that more important than pounding down some macronutrients pre-bed is the emphasis on getting some rapidly absorbed protein (whey isolate and/or hydrosolate) ASAP in the morning. After I take my Drive, RPM, and Relora, 10-15 minutes later I chug a Whey Force (ABB drink with isolate and hydrosolate). I can then rest assured the cortisol is in check from the Relora and aminos from the shake and the nitrogen balance is back in my favor as well. Now I can shower, shave, and make some breakfast without the rush and go to work.

[Outside Backer]

this is such a great thread ive always wanted to bring this up

i too sleep like hell with a shake before bed. i piss all night long and i wake up more hungry then ive ever been

[Force of Green]

this is such a great thread ive always wanted to bring this up

i too sleep like hell with a shake before bed. i piss all night long and i wake up more hungry then ive ever been

Just go to sleep with a condom on and the pissing won't be an issue. Just let 'er rip right into the reservoir.

[pudzian2]

Actually, if you think about the way it worked in ancient times then you'd realize that the day was spent trying to gather (or kill) the meal, which would be eaten at night.

that was their form of exercise lol. They also didn't live exceptionally long compared to people of today. They would eat whatever they stored or leftover throughout the day, and im sure they'd eat fruit or whatever they found while hunting and then eat they're days kill at night....so in that sense you are right but it doesnt necessarily mean they were meant to or it is healthy

[sp33dkillz]

I had a problem with having to get up and piss a few times a night when i used to mix my shakes with milk. I've since switched to soy and it no longer happens to me. I just mix it thick with 8 oz of soy and 2 scoops of whey. If I don't eat right before I go to sleep I wake up with horrible hunger pains.

[chainsaw]

Same experience for me with shake before bed. I would piss all night. I switched to solid food it help with the pissing but the food would jack up my metabolism and make it hard to fall asleep especailly if it is something that is spicy or hard to digest. Once a week I go to bed on an empty stomach and my sleep is great I don't even move. Plus it gives your digestive system a break and you don't wake up with indigestion.