Eat dinner by 7 in the evening
Most people re-port the maximum hunger between 5 pm and 7 pm. While the world sits down for dinner/supper around this time, most urban Indians down cups of tea with oil-laden snacks. Eating inappropriate snacks in the evening and pushing dinner late into the night compounds the dietary mess. Not only
does it increase the caloric intake, it also loads the system at the wrong time. No wonder almost every other urbanite complains of hyper-acidity, sleeping disturbances and expanding waistlines. This eventually results in central obesity (abdominal), dyslipidemia (high cholesterol), high blood pressure, increased uric acid, diabetes and even cardio-vascular disease.
While there is nothing sacred about 7 pm, the rationale is simply to give a gap of ideally three to four hours between the last meal and bedtime or in other words eating most of your evening calories as early as possible.
Coupled with altered circadian rhythms, consuming high calorie, oil-laden, high salt and sugar and dangerous trans-fats along with sedentary lifestyles and stress is a lethal cocktail.
Since in urban India, work and social schedules are not tailored to eating dinner at this time, the solution could be as follows:
n For those who work late, breaking up the meal and dividing calories — between office and home would help prevent loading up calories late at night.
Divide your dinner into two parts. Eat a substantial part, preferably the grains (cereals and pulses), at work and then eat your vegetables or salad or soups, milk, etc., later in the night, when you reach home. Or take a light snack like roasted grains, nuts, fruit, soup, salad, milk or yogurt in the evening and reduce carbohydrate-rich foods at dinner.
n During social outings where dinner is usually served in the wee hours of the morning, it is sensible to keep portions very small and be smart in your choices.
When you dine out, eating a light home-cooked meal or snack before leaving for a party can prevent excessive hunger. Decrease your food intake as you progress into night. Preferably avoid or limit high glycemic, high carbohydrate foods like sugar, starches, potatoes and sweets.
n For those who drink, limit alcohol to the appropriate quantities and choose snacks smartly. Usually, calories for the meal are exhausted with drinks and snack combinations. Eating a full dinner following drinks and snacks is likely to tip your caloric intake over. The bottom line is either you eat dinner early or resign to eating a smaller dinner. But don’t eat a heavy dinner late into the night.
The writer is a well-known clinical nutritionist and Director, Whole Foods India
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