Night Time Shake Question

[jrm]

I supp whey right before bed. I'm wondering if the costs outweigh the benefits; I think it might contribute as a source of unwanted weight gain and/or maintenence. Just wanted to hear some thoughts.

 

[Steveoph]

There are many thoughts on this. I'll lay a bit out here on the table, and you can take what you want from it.

There is the group that feels taking in slow protein/fats before beds gives your body energy to fuel you through your sleep which is a long fast. Typically recommended are slow digesting proteins like casein (either the powder or in cheese form i.e. cottage cheese) and then some fats like Natural peanutbutter etc. to slow digestion. Also while you sleep energy comes mainly from fats, so this can also serve that purpose.

Other people feel that eating about 90 minutes pre-bed is close enough , and that the GH release is anti-catabolic enough and that food merely interferes with digestion.

If you're bulking, protein/fats before bed is really hard to go wrong with unless you find it is really lowering your sleep quality. however if you are on a cut and are worried about fat gain, eating your last meal 2h-90mins might be optimal for you. The search feature will give you many more threads, but i hope that gives you something to work with. Most importantly IMO, don't go to bed hungry.

 

[OCCFan023]

Whey IMO is useless prior to bed unless your just taking it for extra calories for the day rather than a sustaining flow of nutrients over night.

I use to eat my pre bed meal (cottage cheese, flax (or almonds depending on stuff) and broccoli) right before bed, but have now come to personal preference to have it about 1-1.5 hours prior to bed. I find this aids both in pre bed supplements and their effectiveness as well as avoiding unwanted fat gain.

 

[jrm]

I was taking casein only but was having some body odor issues for some reason.

 

[OCCFan023]

I have never heard of anyone experiencing body odor solely from ingesting Casein protein. Instead of pure casein protein try just some slow digesting whole foods with less casein in it (cottage cheese, milk, so on.) Of if you can deal with it try eating some fatty fish rich in EFAs like salmon.

 

[shaddow]

I agree that whey is useless before bed. I eat 1/2lb of 93% lean ground beef, a spoonful of natty pb, and some fish oils ~30 minutes before bed.