The Harmful Effects of Eating After Sunset (Your Health is in Your Hands

Among the precious sons bestowed by Nature, he is the most blessed. A Rajarshi (A king elevated to the stature of a sage) who offers a daily oblation to the philosophy of Nature itself. Like a sage walking beside us, he is the fragrant jewel that spreads the perfume of human evolution, blossoming under Nature’s grace. He is the gardener who tends to the way of natural living, sowing its seeds and nurturing it with care.

Under his guidance, the “Natural Way of Life” is growing as Nature’s beloved child on the banks of the Krishna River. He is the chief architect of the Ashram, envisioned so that all people may follow Nature’s laws and live in good health under the watchful gaze of Goddess Kanaka Durga of Vijayawada.

With affection and reverence, I dedicate this garland of books, Your Health is in Your Hands, to the virtuous couple — our spiritual companions, pure-hearted and gracious — Sri Gokaraju Gangaraju and Smt. Laila Gangaraju.

What You Will Learn in This Book

Oh No! Is This Even Possible These Days?

From the moment people read the title of this book, a question immediately arises in everyone’s mind: “Is it really possible, in today’s world, to eat before sunset? How can one even suggest such things nowadays?”

It is not just office workers and businesspeople who eat late because they return home late. Farmers working in the fields, daily wage laborers, homemakers who stay at home all day, children — without exception, the entire society has adopted the same habit of eating dinner between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.

No one stops to think about what actually happens when we eat at night, or what consequences this habit brings. There are no elders left to say, “This is wrong — do not eat this way.” Teachers are scarce. And in today’s times, even doctors are unfamiliar with the natural laws and disciplines of the human body.

Eating after darkness falls is a direct violation of the body’s natural laws. By eating late, each one of us is unknowingly punishing our own body, and in doing so, we are actively helping diseases to take root within us.

Instead of correcting the mistakes that caused these diseases, we are trying to regain health through other means. That is why, unlike other living beings in nature, we are unable to attain true health and happiness. Our immune system is steadily getting destroyed. If these habits continue, the human body will sink deeper and deeper into a swamp of diseases, surviving only on its last breath.

Whether eating before sunset is possible or impossible in today’s world — set that question aside for a moment. With an open mind and genuine interest in health, patiently try to understand:

Is there anything truly impossible for a human being who is determined? Why can’t you eat before sunset — unless you decide you cannot?

For hundreds of years, even to this day, Marwari businessmen, despite running multiple businesses, finish their meals by 5:30 in the evening, thereby respecting nature’s laws. If they can do it, why can’t we?

2. My Experience in This Matter

During my childhood, I used to fall ill seven or eight times a year due to one problem or another. Fever, cough, wheezing, sinus congestion, weakness, and exhaustion troubled me constantly. I found myself frequently visiting doctors.

While in such a condition, from 1994 onward, I completely gave up taste-driven foods and dietary habits that damage health. By following sound dietary principles, I was able to regain my health to a great extent. However, my body’s immune strength had not yet fully developed.

From January 1, 1997, I began strictly following the rule of finishing all meals before sunset. Until March 1998, I continued eating cooked food for my evening meal. After that, I shifted to fruits and juices alone as my evening food. From then on, I began to experience complete health.

From that day until today, I have been consistently practicing several disciplines necessary for healthy living. Among all those disciplines, I realized through personal experience that the most powerful and most protective rule for the body is eating before sunset.

From 1997 onwards, for five continuous years, I did not eat even once after darkness fell. On days when eating was not possible, I simply skipped the meal — but I never broke the rule.

Later, purely to understand what changes occur in the body when one eats after sunset, I deliberately ate cooked food at 10 or 11 at night on a few occasions. Only then did I truly realize how much comfort, ease, and health I had been enjoying by eating before sunset all these years.

I understood one thing very clearly: In life, even if one relaxes other rules, this rule should never be compromised.

Until 2002, only two or three hundred people adopted this practice after observing me. No matter how much I explained, many would say, “This is not possible for us.”

I realized that people were unable to free themselves from this mistake because they lacked a clear understanding of how powerful this rule is and the science behind it. Therefore, from the end of 2002, I began delivering two-and-a-half-hour awareness lectures specifically on this subject.

Within six to seven months, thousands of people adopted this discipline, experienced excellent results, and shared their positive outcomes. Those who attended my talks understood these truths firsthand. However, I felt that it would be beneficial if others also came to know this secret.

I consider it my good fortune to be able to share this beneficial discipline and lived experience with all of you through this medium. I move forward with confidence, believing that you will not dismiss this as “impossible” at the outset, that you will approach it with an open and positive mind, accept this good practice, and follow it with commitment.

3. What Kind of Beings Are We?

Among the living beings on this earth, those that eat and move only during the daytime are called diurnal beings. They do not eat or move at night and take complete rest during that time. Examples include cattle, birds, elephants, lions, and similar creatures.

Likewise, those that eat and move only at night are called nocturnal beings. They do not eat or move during the daytime and rest completely then. Examples include foxes, owls, bats, lizards, rats, and porcupines.

Human beings must belong to one of these two categories. We must either be diurnal or nocturnal. Think about it — are we diurnal beings, or nocturnal beings? Or do we belong to some category beyond both?

Today’s human being exists in a confused state, not clearly belonging to either group. From the time of human birth until about 100 years ago, humans were diurnal beings. Only in recent times has man begun eating and roaming at night as well, slowly turning into a nocturnal being.

By violating the laws of nature and the natural discipline of the body, humans are destroying their own health. The human body, too, is designed to eat and function during the day and to rest at night. When we act against this design, punishment is inevitable. These punishments are nothing but the various diseases we experience today.

If animals do not suffer from the kinds of diseases humans do, it is only because they do not violate natural laws.

I began to wonder whether there was any living creature that eats and moves continuously — day and night — like modern humans. With this curiosity, I observed many animals over several months. I did not find a single animal that violated its natural rhythm by eating or moving at all times.

While searching for a companion species for humans in this habit of eating both day and night, I began observing pigs. I observed hundreds of pigs. No matter when I looked — day or night — they were either eating or searching for food.

That is when I discovered another secret. I finally understood why elders compare a man who eats all the time to a pig. Pigs eat continuously for 24 hours and, in doing so, also help clean society.

Yet, despite eating without regard to day or night, pigs never suffer from blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, skin diseases, arthritis, or paralysis. What do you think is the secret of a pig’s health?

Whether it is Diwali, Sankranti, a wedding day or a birthday, a pig never demands biryani, tandoori dishes or ice cream. It eats only what is meant for it — even if that food is considered inferior. Moreover, if its mouth tastes bitter, if its stomach is upset or if it has no appetite, it simply fasts and does not touch food at all.

If human beings understood even a fraction of the health wisdom that pigs instinctively follow, they would have become healthy long ago. But even now, it is not too late. The body is always ready to change — only humans must change.

The human body is designed with extraordinary intelligence. Let us return to being diurnal beings. Let us allow the body to rest fully at night. Let us give the body a chance to heal and restore itself. Let us respect the laws of nature and the laws of the body.

4. Why Must the Stomach Be Given Rest?

In our body, some organs are designed to function continuously for 24 hours, while certain others are meant to work for only about 12 hours and then take complete rest for the remaining 12 hours.

For example, everyone knows that muscles, nerves, and bones are not meant to work continuously for 24 hours. Even if they work hard during the day, when they are given complete rest at night, muscles and nerves fully recover from fatigue, regain strength, and become ready to function energetically again by morning.

We experience this clearly during occasions such as weddings. When muscles and nerves — which require rest — are made to work continuously for two or three days without regard to day or night, the body feels extreme exhaustion. After the wedding, we naturally take two or three days of extra rest to compensate for that strain.

Just like muscles and nerves, there are other organs that belong to the category of working only for about 12 hours and resting for the remaining 12 hours. These include the stomach, intestines, pancreas (which assists digestion) and parts of the liver.

While we understand the need to give rest to muscles and nerves at night, we unknowingly keep the stomach and intestines working non-stop for 24 hours.

The stomach’s work begins early in the morning around 7 a.m. with bed coffee. At 9 a.m., it begins grinding breakfast. Before that is fully digested, tea or coffee is added around 11 or 12. Lunch follows at 1 or 2 p.m. Even before that is digested, snacks like bajjis and cutlets are added around 4 or 5 p.m. Then, whether hungry or not, heavy dinners are consumed at 9 or 10 p.m.

If one goes to sleep immediately after eating, the loading may stop there. But many people either attend late-night movie shows or return home and eat yet another round before sleeping.

If the digestive system begins working at 7 a.m., it actually finishes its digestion and gets ready for rest only around 4 or 5 a.m. Because we are asleep at that time, we may not eat then — but even after waking, the habit remains: let’s put something into the stomach again.

When grinding batter in a stone grinder, one scoop is added only after the previous one has been completely ground. No one adds another scoop before the first is done. But in our case, from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep, we keep adding one load after another without allowing the previous food to be fully digested, turning the stomach into a garbage bin.

Thus, the stomach spends all 24 hours grinding continuously, without rest. A stomach that is meant to rest for 12 hours at night becomes weak due to lack of rest.

A weak stomach cannot eliminate harmful microorganisms and disease-causing germs effectively. As a result, the body’s defense system fails. Just as a nation is endangered when its borders are poorly guarded, a body with a weak stomach is equally at risk.

Animals may drink any water and eat food without washing it, yet they do not suffer from diarrhea, vomiting, indigestion or viral fevers — because their stomach and liver are strong enough to protect them. If we, despite filtering and purifying everything, still suffer from such problems, the reason is simply a weakened digestive system.

Farmers know well that if land is left fallow for two or three months every year, the soil regains strength, resists pests, and yields better crops. But if we do not know how to let our stomach rest, how can it regain strength?

It can be said that even beggars often have stronger and healthier intestines than us — because hunger forces their stomachs to rest more frequently.

If the stomach is given 12 hours of rest at night, it regains strength by morning and stands ready, as if saying, “I am ready to digest powerfully.” That is why elders say, “Food eaten with hunger is nectar.” Food eaten without hunger turns into poison.

Only a stomach that has rested for 12 hours at night experiences true hunger in the morning. Hunger itself is true health.

If we eat only while there is daylight and stop eating after darkness falls — thus fulfilling our duty — then the stomach, in turn, fulfills its duty during the night.

5. How Does the Body Protect Itself from Disease When We Stop Eating and Moving After Sunset?

Of the total energy in our body, about 25% is constantly used — day and night — by organs that must function continuously, such as the heart, kidneys, lungs and brain.

Since humans are day-active beings, we perform two main activities during the daytime: eating and moving. To carry out these two activities, of the remaining 75% of the body’s energy, about 40% is used by the digestive system to digest food. As long as food remains in the stomach and intestines, this 40% of energy stays concentrated there and is not available for any other function.

At the same time, we also work during the day. To perform physical work, the body needs energy. After allocating energy for digestion and essential needs, the remaining 35% of energy is assigned to the muscles for daily activities. Thus, this 75% of energy is distributed according to our needs.

For example, many women work continuously in the mornings — often until 9 a.m. — without even eating breakfast. When people like me ask, “Isn’t it past 9 o’clock? Why don’t you eat breakfast and then work?” they reply, “If we eat, we can’t work efficiently. That’s why we finish the work first and eat later.”

Do you know why they say this? Because when they haven’t eaten anything, the 40% of energy that would otherwise go to digestion is saved, and that saved energy is redirected to the muscles, allowing them to work energetically and efficiently. That is why we cannot work actively immediately after eating.

Since the body is not meant to eat or move at night, nearly the entire 75% of energy allocated for those activities is saved. The reason we should avoid eating and moving at night is to conserve this energy. At night, the body redirects this saved energy to perform another major and vital function. Let us understand what that function is.

When the food we eat during the day is digested and converted into energy, it produces many waste materials. These wastes must be eliminated through the bowels, urinary bladder, skin and lungs. The body must clean itself every day without storing these wastes inside.

Just as we clean our house daily and wash utensils every day, the body must also perform daily cleaning. Every day we drink water, breathe air and eat food. Through these, germs, viruses, and toxins may enter the body. The body must defend itself from them, repair diseased cells, and prevent infections from dead cells. This entire defense, cleaning, and repair process must be carried out by the body throughout the night.

In short, while the body spends the daytime eating and moving, it must spend the nighttime cleaning and repairing.

To perform these two vital nighttime functions, the body requires a lot of energy. If we stop eating and moving at night, the 75% of energy that was used during the day gets conserved, and this conserved energy is then used for cleaning and repair during the night.

For cleaning and repair to happen properly at night, we must finish eating early while there is still daylight, so that once digestion is complete, these processes can begin.

Consider a household example. In the morning, most homes look messy and chaotic. Women are busy sending children to school and husbands to work, so they focus on cooking rather than cleaning. Vegetable scraps are left aside, cooking vessels remain unwashed, rice overflows onto the stove, and the kitchen becomes messy. Yet, cleaning is postponed — because cooking and cleaning cannot be done simultaneously, and cleaning before cooking finishes would only create more mess.

Once cooking is done and everyone leaves, cleaning begins all at once. Similarly, small repairs — like unclogging stove burners or oiling stiff window hinges — are done when there is free time.

The body works in exactly the same way. During the day, it is busy with eating and movement. As we eat, waste keeps accumulating. Just as a homemaker waits for cooking to finish before cleaning, the body waits for us to stop eating so that it can begin cleaning and repair.

If we eat at 10 or 11 p.m., cleaning and repair can begin only after that food is fully digested. Food eaten at 10 p.m. takes until about 4 or 5 a.m. to digest. Only then can repair and cleaning begin — and they continue only until we eat or drink again. Usually, by around 7 a.m., we consume something, and the cleaning process stops.

If someone eats a heavy non-vegetarian pulao at 10 p.m. and goes to sleep, it may not even finish digesting by morning. On that day, the body lacks the energy and opportunity to clean and repair, so it skips those processes entirely.

A body that is meant to clean and repair itself for 12 hours every night is forced, due to lack of opportunity, to do so for only 2–3 hours, or sometimes not at all. Think about how many days, months and years this has been happening.

If garbage is not removed daily and is left in a dustbin for 3 or 4 days, insects breed and the house environment becomes polluted. Similarly, if the waste produced by our daily food were fully eliminated every day, diseases would never occur.

Animals eat for about 12 hours and rest for 12 hours at night, thereby protecting their health naturally. But we deny our body this opportunity and end up inviting diseases with our own hands.

When we light a stove, it naturally produces soot, ash and smoke. To keep the stove clean, we sweep it daily and remove the waste. The same must happen inside our body.

We are not required to clean the body ourselves. The body is simply asking us: “My dear, just finish eating early in the evening. I will take care of the cleaning myself.”

If we give the body this small opportunity, just watch how beautifully it protects our health and keeps us disease-free.

6. How Does Eating After Sunset Destroy Immunity?

If we eat during the daytime and then refrain from eating for 12 hours at night, the body is able to completely remove the pollution generated by the food eaten during the day. During the night, the body successfully completes the two essential processes of cleaning and repair. When this happens every day, good health naturally follows.

But in the name of civilization, we are now keeping food inside the stomach for nearly 20 hours a day. How can the body clean all the pollution produced by so much food within the remaining 3 or 4 hours it gets? The pollution generated is excessive, the elimination is minimal, and what remains is a large load of waste.

Day after day, this leftover waste accumulates in the body, transforms into disease-causing matter, and begins releasing various toxins, harmful microorganisms, and poisonous substances. From garbage, only bad things are born — never good. Evil has the nature of multiplying rapidly.

Because of the daily mistakes we make, more than 90% of the harmful factors in our body are created within us. The harm that enters the body from external sources accounts for less than 10%. To protect itself from the toxins and microorganisms generated from the waste that remains due to incomplete cleaning and repair, the body continuously activates and uses its immune system.

If the immune system is spent every single day merely fighting the internal waste, then the body is left with no strength to defend itself against microorganisms from nature — air, water, food and the environment. When that happens, these external agents attack the body and produce various diseases.

Animals may drink stagnant water, eat food without washing it in dust and dirt, and breathe whatever air is available — yet they do not suffer infections and diseases like humans do. This is because they have a huge reserve of immunity, which protects them naturally.

In humans, everything appears clean on the outside, but inside it is full of waste. Our protection depends entirely on internal cleanliness.

The human body was designed to eat plant-based food, and that too without cooking, and only during the daytime. But forgetting this truth, humans consume both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, cook it, add various flavors, and eat it without distinguishing between day and night. How can immunity survive under such conditions?

Among all living beings in nature, humans have the weakest immunity. Even if one eats the wrong food, eating it during the day at least allows the body to cleanse itself at night, thereby protecting us. But every bite eaten after sunset, instead of giving us energy, actually drains the energy we already have.

To improve health and immunity, humans keep searching for medicines, but fail to recognize and protect the extraordinary natural power that already exists within them.

7. How Do the Heart and Lungs Get Rest When the Stomach Has No Work?

Many people think that when the heart and lungs “rest”, it means they stop working altogether. That is a misunderstanding. The heart and lungs are organs that work continuously, yet they too are designed to get a few hours of rest every day. Unfortunately, our eating and lifestyle habits deprive them of this rest.

If the heart and lungs function properly, a human being can live energetically and for a long time. Their health is closely connected to finishing meals before sunset.

When we eat food, the digestive system requires more blood flow and oxygen to digest it. To supply this, the heart and lungs must work harder. During the daytime, since we both eat and move around, the muscles also need more blood and oxygen, forcing the heart and lungs to work even harder.

As long as we eat and remain active during the day, the heart beats 72 times per minute or more, and the lungs breathe 18 times per minute or more, meeting the body’s demands and gradually becoming fatigued.

According to natural design, we are meant to eat and be active during the day. Now let us see what happens when we rest properly at night.

For example, suppose you eat a light meal at 6:00 PM. It gets digested by around 9:00 PM, and you go to bed by 10:00 PM. This gives rest to the digestive system and rest to the body. As a result, the heart and lungs no longer need to supply excess blood and oxygen.

Therefore, during sleep, the heart and lungs also begin to rest. A heart that normally beats more than 72 times per minute during the day now beats only around 60 times per minute when you eat early and sleep on time. That means it gets 10 to 12 moments of rest every minute.

Now imagine how many minutes — and how many hours — of rest the heart gets throughout the night until you wake up. Think of how much strength the heart muscle gains during this rest.

Similarly, the lungs, instead of breathing 18 times per minute, breathe only 12 to 14 times per minute, giving them 4 to 6 moments of rest per minute.

On the other hand, if you eat a heavy meal at 10 or 11 PM and go to bed, the heart and lungs are forced to work intensely until the food is fully digested — often until dawn. This is why, by the age of 60 or 70, these organs begin to give up, as if saying, “I can’t do this anymore.”

By eating late into the night and staying active until midnight, we are turning ourselves into a curse for our own heart and lungs. If we do not show compassion toward our own body, how can we expect good health?

8. Why Does One Sleep Peacefully When the Stomach Is Empty?

Generally, people believe that one sleeps comfortably only after filling the stomach. If I say that true peaceful sleep comes only when the stomach is empty, you may feel that I am saying the opposite of common belief. But if you understand the truth behind this, you will not think so.

Usually, everyone returns home hungry around 5:30–6:00 PM. They feel that if they eat at that time, sleep will not come. So they eat some snacks then and believe that if they eat dinner at 9 or 10 PM, they will fall into a heavy sleep. What actually comes after a full dinner is drowsiness, not true sleep.

When you eat a heavy meal, all your inner energy, blood circulation, and vital air are diverted toward the digestive system. As a result, your alertness diminishes and you feel dull and sleepy. If you lie down then, what you get is only stupefying sleep, not deep, restful sleep. What a human being truly needs is deep, peaceful sleep, not drug-like drowsiness.

What is sleep, really? Sleep means rest. Which organs should rest during sleep? All organs — or only some? Only when all organs rest, can the body function energetically again in the morning.

Now think carefully. If you eat a heavy meal at 10 or 11 PM and go to bed, which organs are actually resting? The legs, arms, muscles and nerves may rest. But to digest the food, the heart and lungs must work harder to supply blood and oxygen. The stomach, intestines, liver and pancreas must actively secrete digestive juices and process the food. When so many organs are working inside, can that be called rest? Can that be called peaceful sleep?

Only when digestion is complete and the stomach and intestines begin to rest does the body enter true rest. From that point onward, deep sleep or peaceful sleep begins. If you eat and immediately go to bed, until digestion is complete, you experience only dull, intoxicated sleep.

To prove that what I say is not wrong, let me give a simple example. People believe that eating and sleeping brings good sleep. Then tell me — how many people fall asleep within 5 or 10 minutes of lying down? More than 90 percent of people lie awake for 30 to 60 minutes, talking aimlessly or tossing from side to side. If sleep still does not come, some take sleeping pills, and some turn to alcohol.

If you ask people during which hours they experience the deepest, most peaceful sleep, everyone gives the same answer: between 3 and 4 AM. Have you understood why sleep becomes deepest only in the early hours of the morning? By that time, all internal work is finally complete. The body feels relieved — “At last, the work is done” — and enters deep sleep with contentment.

Because of eating at 10 or 11 PM, the body gets only 2 or 3 hours of real, peaceful sleep. That is why tiredness does not leave you even after waking; dullness persists throughout the day. But if you eat by 6:00 PM, and digestion is complete before bedtime, you fall asleep immediately. From the moment you lie down, deep sleep continues for 5 to 6 hours, waking you naturally by 4:00 AM. From the moment you wake up, you feel energetic, refreshed, and eager to work.

Never forget this truth: If you eat while there is daylight, you will enter deep sleep the moment you lie down.

By creating daylight and darkness, the Creator has protected living beings by preventing them from roaming and eating at night. If there were daylight for all 24 hours, animals too would eat and move constantly like humans and would suffer illnesses as we do. Their inability to see at night has been a blessing for them. Artificial lights, however, have become a curse for us.

9. Why Does One Not Gain Weight When Eating Before Sunset?

Gaining weight or becoming obese does not happen due to any reason as strongly as eating late at night and going to sleep afterward. This is the single greatest mistake. Today, if more than 80 percent of people are overweight or pot-bellied, this mistake is the primary cause.

Do you know the rule followed by sumo wrestlers who deliberately increase their weight to more than 400 kilograms for records? They completely avoid food during the day, starve the stomach, and then eat a heavy variety of cooked foods in full quantities at 10 or 11 PM before sleeping. They do not become obese because of what they eat during the day — they become obese because of eating at night. Likewise, those who eat at night do not lose weight. Let us understand the science behind this.

Due to work or business pressures, people often skip proper meals during the day. But at night, they eagerly wait to eat a “satisfying” dinner. At night they consume richer foods — oily items, non-vegetarian dishes, pulao, and heavy preparations. In earlier days, only men ate such food outside. Nowadays, women too follow the same pattern. Without any distinction between men and women, everyone is becoming overweight.

When such heavy food is eaten at night, the energy gained from it is approximately 1000 kilocalories. If one eats at 10 PM and goes to sleep, the body spends only about 60 kilocalories per hour during sleep. Most people sleep for 7 to 8 hours. That means roughly 450 kilocalories are burned during sleep. If the food consumed provides 1000 kilocalories, after subtracting the 450 spent, 550 kilocalories remain unused. This excess energy is converted into fat and stored in fat cells — like money deposited in a bank.

When one wakes up and drinks tea or coffee and does light exercise, only the tea or coffee is burned — the stored fat does not melt. Thus, day after day, fat continues to accumulate. No matter how many attempts are made to lose weight, complete weight loss becomes impossible.

Now consider this. If the same 1000 kilocalorie meal is eaten by 6 PM, and one remains awake and active until 10 PM, the body spends about 125 kilocalories per hour during that time. That means nearly 500 kilocalories are burned even before going to bed. During sleep, another 450 kilocalories are spent. Because the meal is eaten before sunset, all the energy obtained from food is fully used by the next morning, leaving no excess to be converted into fat.

If you are already overweight and wish to become slim, you should not eat the same quantity. Instead of consuming 1000 kilocalories at 6 PM, eat food that provides only 500 kilocalories. That food will be fully burned even before sleep. During sleep, the body will then draw energy from stored fat, causing weight loss. If, after waking up, you do physical work without eating or drinking anything, weight loss will be even faster.

These days, even laborers remain overweight despite doing hard physical work. The reason is the same — they too eat late at night and sleep. We must not forget that the reason our ancestors remained lean was stopping food intake before sunset.

10. What Should Be Done to Feel Hungry Before Sunset?

Some people ask, “You are saying that we should eat while there is still daylight — that sounds fine, but we do not feel hungry at that time! If there is no hunger, should we still eat?”

Whether or not you feel hungry in the evening depends largely on what you eat at lunch and when you eat it.

If you cook food that is light, easy to digest, and prepared without oil and excess salt, it is best to finish lunch between 1 and 2 PM. If you have to eat oily foods or heavy dishes such as pulao, try to finish them by 12 or 1 PM.

Or, if such heavy foods must be eaten, then — if possible — skip the morning tiffin and eat lunch by 10 or 11 AM. By keeping the stomach empty until evening, you will naturally feel proper hunger before sunset.

Adjusting eating times based on work schedules is something everyone is already accustomed to. But for the sake of health, from now on it is far better to plan work according to eating times rather than eating according to work. This approach is beneficial in every way.

11. How Different People Should Eat the Evening Meal

Digestion is closely connected with the sun. Just as the sun is strong at midday, digestion is also active and powerful then. As the sun sets and its strength diminishes, our digestive power also becomes slow in the evening. Therefore, the evening meal should consist only of light, easily digestible foods.

If the food we eat in the evening gets digested quickly, the body immediately begins its two essential nighttime functions — repair and cleaning — and thereby protects us. Our ancestors understood this truth long ago and put it into practice. They warned us through sayings that eating after sunset leads to illness, and cautioned us not to eat at night “like demons.”

Let us examine some rules our elders prescribed for the evening meal. They advised not to consume curd (yogurt) in the evening, to eat food that is slightly bland, not to cook pigeon peas or green gram, to avoid tubers, which are hard to digest at night, and also to avoid leafy vegetables and oily dishes in the evening. These rules are absolutely correct. Foods that provide heavy energy or take a long time to digest are unsuitable for a body that needs rest at night. If such foods are eaten, weight gain and illness are inevitable.

The evening meal plays a crucial role in health. It can be said that more than half of our illnesses arise from eating the wrong foods, in the wrong quantity, or at the wrong time in the evening. Even modern doctors are often unaware of this principle.

In most homes, people of all ages — from small children to the elderly — eat the same food prepared by the women of the household. This is a mistake. Each person’s body, age, and work are different. Eating the same way for everyone causes harm. Food should be chosen according to individual needs, age, and physical condition.

Evening dishes should always be cooked very lightly, with little or no oil and salt, so they digest quickly and support the body. No matter how food is cooked at lunch, be careful in the evening. Let us now consider who should eat what.

People who do heavy physical labor in the sun, growing children, and those who are very thin or weak are eligible to eat rice. Unpolished (raw) rice is best. Vegetables should be cooked lightly, and the meal should consist of 40% vegetables and 60% rice. Fill the stomach only 80%, leaving 20% empty. Instead of curd, buttermilk may be taken. Overeating slows digestion.

This is suitable for people who want to lose weight, reduce diabetes, maintain their current weight, or who live a sedentary life. Make 3–4 rotis from kneaded dough, cooked on a pan without oil, and eat them with a generous portion of lightly cooked vegetables (about 75% vegetables). If desired, a small cup of buttermilk may be taken. No rice. That is the limit.

This is best for people whose diabetes is poorly controlled, those suffering from severe obesity, chronic joint pain, long-standing skin diseases, or those who want a meal without cooking. It is especially suitable for people accustomed to eating raw vegetables. Such people may eat 3–4 wheat rotis with a generous quantity of raw vegetables.

People who wish to reduce drowsiness, snoring, abdominal bloating, or who want to fall asleep quickly; those interested in meditation or spiritual practice; retired couples who wish to live disease-free; people who do not want to cook in the evening; those whose work involves little movement or sweating; people who want to lose weight; and those who cannot return home early — all are fortunate if they can eat only fruits in the evening.

To prevent weakness, 10–15 dates may be taken along with fruits. Sour fruit juices (such as orange or sweet lime) are best consumed 30–60 minutes before eating fruits, ideally between 5 and 6 PM. Fruits may be eaten between 6 and 6:30 PM. Seasonal fruits may be eaten freely until the stomach feels full. Those with limited means may complete their meal with guava, bananas, and dates. Tender corn cobs can also be eaten raw along with fruits for fullness.

There is no harm in eating fruits to fullness. Fruits get digested within 1½ to 2 hours, allowing the body to begin its nighttime processes quickly. Therefore, in today’s times, this is one of the best options.

12. What Should Be Done When Eating Before Sunset Is Not Possible?

This is a problem that troubles everyone. Some people think, “Whenever possible we will eat before sunset, and on days when it is not possible, what harm can there be in eating late once in a while?”

If eating before sunset is not possible on a particular day, it is far better to skip eating altogether that day. The benefit gained by not eating is far greater than the harm caused by eating late at night.

Those who, due to their jobs or businesses, reach home only at 10 or 11 at night, should make it a habit to eat fruits between 6:00 and 6:30 PM wherever they happen to be. Keep fruits with you and manage with that. If even this is not possible, continue your work until late — but do not eat.

On occasions when it is not possible to eat lunch or fruits, honey water may be consumed. It can be taken any number of times. Honey does not require digestion; it enters the bloodstream immediately and provides quick energy. Add 3–4 teaspoons of honey to a glass of water and drink it.

13. What Is the Remedy If You Occasionally Eat After Sunset?

I assume many of you are wondering whether there is a remedy for this situation. No matter how disciplined one tries to be, certain unavoidable situations do arise. Occasionally, when you are compelled to eat late — such as at wedding feasts, banquets, or during emergencies — you may eat. However, when you do so, do not get confused by advice such as “do not eat tubers at night,” “do not eat to fullness,” “avoid curd,” “avoid oil,” and so on. Put all that aside and eat fully and to your satisfaction.

The next morning, drink water in two rounds and ensure that you have bowel movements twice. That morning, instead of your usual juices and sprouts, stay only on honey water.

If hunger becomes strong, eat lunch in the afternoon. In the evening, manage with fruits. If hunger remains mild, you may stay on honey water for the entire day.

Some people think, “If we eat until 11 or 12 at night and then starve the stomach until the next afternoon, won’t that be enough?”

Eating late at night and then starving the stomach during working hours the next day is opposite to the body’s natural rhythm and is harmful.

14. Benefits of Eating Before Sunset

The harm caused by eating after sunset is far greater than the harm caused by smoking a packet of cigarettes a day, drinking a peg of whisky every day, consuming coffee four or five times a day, or even using gutka or chewing tobacco.

By following this single rule, the body begins to correct many of the mistakes committed over the years. Moreover, eating before sunset brings the following benefits:

15. Do Not Commit This Mistake Anymore

The days have come for all of us to live comfortably and happily. That is why we have been able to learn such valuable truths. Let us now begin, from today itself, to put this good knowledge into practice.

Even if your wife pleads with you saying, “The cooked food will be wasted — eat it today and stop from tomorrow,” do not eat it. If food remains, throw it into the trash bin, not into your stomach.

Consider eating after sunset as a grave sin. Do not allow this body to commit such an unpardonable offense anymore.

When you first begin eating before sunset, you may find it difficult to fall asleep. For a week or ten days, you may even dream about eating various foods. Still, do not step back. In time, it will become a habit.

When we change, our children will change too. If we ourselves do not know what is good, who will teach our children?

Let us all come together to build a healthy society. Move forward with determination to change our habits. Let us prove that our health is in our own hands.

The Harmful Effects of Eating After Sunset

Your Health is in Your Hands - 4

Dr. Manthena Satyanarayana Raju

https://www.manthena.org

Rajarshi....!