Make it early. Make it light. Follow nature.
The sun is strongest at noon. It begins to fall, and the moon takes its rightful place in the sky. The sun-moon rhythm is natural and flows like clockwork. The digestive system, an internal nature, also flows like clockwork. Like the sun, the digestive system is strongest at noon.
Dr. Sheila Patel is the Chief Medical Officer for Chopra Global and a board-certified family physician. She suggests eating the biggest meal in the afternoon for more power. “Our bodies are most able to digest food at midday when we are active. As studies have found, our digestive system secretes the highest concentration of ‘digestive juices’ around noon, making this the best time to eat our largest meal.”
Dr. Patel also writes, “In the evening, our bodies are slowing down and preparing for sleep.” Eating an earlier, lighter dinner brings more ease into the night.
The Sleep Connection
In the body, food takes 2 to 3 hours to digest. Dr. Vasant Lad, an Ayurveda physician, mentions, “If dinner is eaten at six o’clock, by nine the stomach will be empty, and sleep will be sound” (Lad ch. XI). A person hits the sack around 9 or 10pm and begins to enter into a restful sleep. The body begins to work for self-maintenance. Sleep Advisor, in “How Digestion Affects Your Sleep Quality,” defines the process as the cells in the body “grow, repair and rebuild themselves.”
Another person eats dinner at 9pm and goes to bed 30 minutes later. When the body is asleep and digestion of the evening meal is happening, no maintenance is going on. Sleep Advisor states, the person “may wake up with heartburn, indigestion, acid reflux, or other unpleasant, sleep-disrupting symptoms.” For sleep and maintain the body, eating an earlier, lighter dinner with more ease is essential.
Real-World Evidence
I asked some questions in my Facebook group, Joy & Rejuvenation. My friend and former coworker, Valerie Hamilton Shaber, had an interesting eye-opener:
Me: When is dinner time to you?
Valerie: It used to be after 7pm, now I’m working on dining earlier before 6pm.
Me: What time do you go to bed?
Valerie: Now between 9:30 and 10:30…finally😊.
Me: After sleep, when you get out of bed, do you feel groggy or refreshed?
Valerie: Rejuvenated…Ready to start the day.
Some people feel restored after a good night’s sleep. Valerie is one of them. She definitely agreed that eating earlier, led to going to bed earlier, which led to waking up renewed.
The science is clear: aligning your eating schedule with your body’s natural rhythms isn’t just ancient wisdom—it’s backed by modern research. When you eat earlier and lighter, you’re working with your biology, not against it.
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References:
– Advisor, Sleep. How Digestion Affects Your Sleep Quality. Sleepadvisor.org. 7 Jun., 2020. https://www.sleepadvisor.org/sleep-and-digestion/
– Lad, Vasant. Ayurveda: The Science of Self-Healing: A Practical Guide. 2nd ed. Lotus Press. 1990.
– Patel, Sheila. Learn How to Improve Your Digestion With 6 Ayurvedic Practices. Chopra. 7 Aug., 2019. https://chopra.com/articles/learn-how-to-improve-your-digestion-with-6-ayurvedic-practices