The best time to eat a large meal (and the benefits)

If you’re going to eat a big meal, make it lunch.

According to Aryuveda tradition, the body’s metabolism burns hottest during the hours of 10am- 2pm and is the most beneficial time to have a larger meal.

This gives the body time to digest what is eaten and use it for energy.

Eating a larger mid day meal can also be a helpful weight loss strategy. It gets rid of the mid-afternoon snack cravings, and dinner is naturally much smaller than normal as you aren’t starving by 5pm.

Over the past year, I’ve been experimenting with make my lunch larger and have found that both my afternoon cravings and post-dinner cravings for sweets are gone.

There is also a connection in our brain- if we feel well fed and cared for earlier in the day, our brain doesn’t prompt us to overeat at dinner. In contrast, when we skimp on breakfast or lunch to “be good” or “save calories” our brain is afraid there isn’t enough food and tells us to keep eating at dinner to stock up in case that “famine” occurs again tomorrow.

Undereating almost always backfires.

This does not mean that you should eat anything you want- but eating good quality, balanced meals until you are full can help with weight maintenance, weight loss, proper balance of macro and micro nutrients, and overall well-being and health.

Are you a chronic undereater in the mornings and overeater at night?

Do you have cravings post-dinner?