Many benefits of early dinner: How it helps you lose weight, sleep well and be happy

Having an early dinner can curb cravings, help resolve sleep issues and make you more productive and even compassionate.

Having an early dinner before sunset can offer benefits a range of benefits beyond weight loss. Eating early doesn't just provide your digestive system sufficient time to burn calories, it also impacts your satiety hormones in a positive way which means eating at 5 pm or 6 pm can actually curb your unhealthy cravings and impact the way fat is stored in the body. This has been the finding of a Harvard Medical School study that found out 5 pm as the best time to have dinner for maximum health benefits. The said study examined 16 patients whose BMI was in overweight or obese range, and compared the what happened when they ate their last meal of the day at 5 pm versus when they ate it at 9 pm. (Also read: 5 simple summer meals that can work wonders for gut health)

It was discovered that eating later affected hunger levels and the appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin. It also affected the way calories were burned and how fat was stored.

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MORE ENERGY, WAKING UP FRESH

Actor Anushka Sharma recently admitted that by 5:30 pm-6 pm her dinner is done and having early dinner is doing wonders to her health. She also shared how eating her last meal of the day early makes her sleep better and resolved all her sleep issues. "I wake up fresher, I have more energy. I think clearer. I would attribute that to eating early because that's the only change really that I've made in my life.

HOW EATING EARLY CAN ENHANCE OVERALL WELL-BEING

Nutritionist Rashi Chowdhary in her recent Instagram post talks about benefits of early dinner.

"You get so many different benefits when you are eating dinner early because your circadian rhythm kind of realigns.

Melatonin which is your sleep hormone starts to get released in your bloodstream after sunset. And when you have a large meal post sunset, you’ll also release insulin which raises cortisol which is your stress hormone, this is the basic metabolic response for digestion of food," says Chowdhary.

SLEEPING WELL WITH EARLY DINNER

The nutritionist adds that your cortisol and melatonin compete with each other and cannot survive together which can lead to a lot of hormonal issues.

"So, when you start eating dinner early you give your body enough time to release melatonin to a point where between 10 pm to 2 am when it reaches its peak growth hormone, repair enzymes, restorative enzymes all of these get secreted and that's why you wake up feeling energetic and refreshed," adds Chowdhary.

When your internal clock got enough time to rest, recoup and recover, here's what happens:

- Your cravings are a lot lesser or completely gone

- You wake up with a flat stomach

- You are more focused, more productive

- You are a lot happier

MAKES YOU A BETTER PERSON

"When you sleep better your prefrontal cortex which is the part of brain responsible for logical thinking, it’s responsible for connecting with people in a more compassionate way, that part is lit up and you show up as much better human being," concludes Chowdhary.