Sometimes the lessons we already know come back, not as reminders—but as consequences.
I believe that consuming food after sunset is not good for health. In my personal experience, I noticed the ill effects already. My paunch had been growing, and I did not feel as fit in last few months as I once did—even though I had been on a raw food diet for seven years.
About two months ago, I decided to try having just one meal a day around noon. This change, however, demands a rich, complete, and nutritious meal that can sustain me through the day. The results were immediate. Within a week, my paunch reduced dramatically, and I began feeling lighter again. I feel much happier physically now a days.
So I know for a fact that late evening meals are not good.
But what I experienced recently showed me something more—how much worse it can get with a midnight meal.
With my younger son Sisir visiting India and leaving back to the US the day after tomorrow, we decided to spend some time together. Yesterday, we watched a long movie in a theater—about four hours. One of the things pending for him before he left was to have a Hyderabadi biryani.
With little time left, we decided to get a takeaway from Pista House after the movie. I never tried biryani from this popular joint, and was keen to try myself too.
There was a very long wait at the restaurant it being Ramazan month, and by the time we reached home and sat down to eat, it was already midnight.
I was hungry during the movie post the movie interval. But by the time we actually got to the dining table, I was no longer hungry as it was my sleep time by then.
Still, I decided to “sample” some.
Even though I was not hungry, and despite my long-standing habit of avoiding late-night eating, I went ahead. I also generally avoid food that is not fresh—a habit from childhood—so eating this the next day was not an option anyway.
My plan was simple: just taste a little.
But because my stomach was already empty, I could not stop at just sampling.
My first preference is generally the one that my wife prepares, the way we like. And we don't cook biryani often. I do enjoy biryani a lot when I get to eat though .It doesn’t matter to me if some non-vegetarians say biryani without meat is not biryani—I like it anyway.
Since my stomach was empty, I didn’t feel satisfied with just a few bites. I ended up having a decent meal—not my usual full portion, but enough.
And the effect?
Immediate.
My paunch seemed to grow overnight. I felt heavier. Even simple actions like bending down became uncomfortable—I had to adjust my waist belt to accomodate.
It reminded me of how Lord Vinayaka is described during the Vinayaka Chavithi festival—after eating a lot, he finds it difficult to do sashtanga namaskar to his parents.
That is exactly how I felt.
The surprising part is this:
It is not that the food wasn’t digested. I believe it was digested.
But since the body had little need to use the energy that could be created during the night, all that glucose generated simply got stored as fat—right in the body’s preferred storage space: the paunch. Where it stores varied by person and based on how much an area was already filled.
What restaurants proudly market as “midnight biryani” is exactly what I had last night.
And this is what I got in return. Too bad. But at least I have one more personal experience of the ill effects that I can share with others.
Please—stop late night munching. That alone may improve your health in a big way.
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N Srinivasan