Why You Wake Up With Morning Stiffness and How to Fix It
- Dec 17, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 14
Do you wake up in the morning feeling groggy, stiff, or in pain? You aren't alone. Many of my patients in Lawrence come to me asking why their joints hurt the most right when they wake up.
The answer might be in your kitchen.
I recently shared a video explaining the connection between late-night eating and morning pain. Here is the breakdown of why that midnight snack might be causing your inflammation.
The Cause of Morning Stiffness: Digestion vs. Repair
We tend to think of eating as "refueling," but the process of digestion actually takes a massive amount of energy from your body. Your body has to break down, process, and assimilate everything you eat.
If you eat right before sleep, your body spends its energy digesting food instead of doing what it is supposed to do at night: Repairing.
The "Deep Repair" Mode
When you sleep on an empty stomach, your body enters a "Deep Repair Mode." This is when your internal systems go to work to:
Fix inflammation
Clean the liver
Repair joints and tissues
If your energy is tied up in your stomach digesting a late meal, it can't fix the joints or clear out inflammation. The result? You wake up feeling tired, stiff, and achy.
A Simple Rule to Reduce Morning Stiffness Tonight
The fix is simple, and it doesn't cost a penny.
Close your kitchen 4 hours before you go to bed.
This gives your body enough time to finish digestion before you sleep, so it can focus 100% of its energy on healing your pain and inflammation overnight.
Try the 3-Night Challenge
You don't have to take my word for it. Try this for just 3 nights in a row.
Stop eating 4 hours before bed.
Drink only water or herbal tea if needed.
Pay attention to how you feel when you wake up on Day 4.
You might be surprised to find that your stiffness and pain have significantly improved - or even disappeared completely.
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