Be Healthier: Eat Dinner Early, Says Akshay Kumar
In many Indian households, dinner is served at 8 p.m. or later. Indian students attending American universities are often surprised to find that the dining halls open for dinner as early as 4:30 p.m. and close as early as 7:30 p.m. Bollywood star Akshay Kumar is a big proponent of early dinners, believing it contributes to better sleep and good health. Speaking at a recent book launch, Kumar shared some of his habits, including fasting on Mondays and completing dinner by 6:30 p.m.
“Why is it important to eat at 6:30 in the evening?” he asked. “It is very important for your body because when we go to sleep at night, our eyes are resting, our legs are resting, our hands are resting, every part of our body is resting. But what is not resting is your stomach because we have eaten food late.” The stomach continues to digest food through the night, he said. “By the time you get up, it is time for the stomach to relax. But when we get up, we eat our breakfast and again the poor stomach is working. It is working very hard.”
Many experts agree that dinnertime should not be too close to bedtime. Valter Longo, director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, advises finishing dinner at least three hours before your usual bedtime. That could be as late as 9 p.m. if you fall asleep at midnight. However, it’s important to give your stomach a long break between meals, he says.
More of ChaiTime here:
http://www.khabar.com/magazine/chaitime/
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
[Comments? Contributions? We would love to hear from you about Chai Time. If you have contributions, please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]
Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.
