closed kitchenDo you remember when you were a kid and you loved eating cereal right before bed each night?  Well it turns out that our bodies don't digest food very well after sundown. So if you don't sleep so well or your kids get stomach aches or you need to shed a few pounds, close the kitchen and keep reading!

Our body mimics the universe

According to Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine, our bodies mimic the natural universe. When the sun rises in the sky, so too our digestive fire wakes up and starts to roar.  As the sun sets, our internal fire which is our metabolism also goes to sleep for the night.

Late night snacks can lead to weight gain

If our metabolism goes to sleep, but we're just starting on some lasagne, what do you think will become of that meal?  If you thought "turns to fat" you're right. We want to eat when our digestion is at its peak and can actually breakdown and assimilate the nutrients from food and turn them into energy.  If our digestion is unable to do that because it's resting for the evening, we gain weight from our food. Stop eating after sundown and watch those extra pounds drop away.

Eat lunch like a king and dinner like a pauper

An old natural health saying goes: Eat breakfast like a prince, lunch like a king, and dinner like a pauper. The point is that in order to really extract nutrients from our food and metabolize properly, we need to eat our largest meal of the day when the sun and our internal fire are strongest. That's midday. So lunch should be fit for a king, while breakfast should be smaller than that, but still big enough to stoke our digestive fire for the day. Then dinner should be small and before sunset. This way we get the most out of our food.

Breaking the fast

Breakfast is called that because our bodies work best if we fast all night.  While we are sleeping, our bodies are processing and eliminating food and toxins in order to stay clean and perform well.  If we eat too late at night, our bodies don't get a chance to do that.

Tell the kids the kitchen is closed

Even kids need to give their systems a break. Kids who suffer from stomach aches, poor appetites or weight gain would benefit from being banned from the kitchen after sunset.  It's hard to tell a kid who says he's hungry that the kitchen is closed, but once they start feeling better because you're giving them the chance to detox in the night, the whole family will be happier.

What works for you?

Have you tried to limit what you or your kids eat late at night? What has helped you to eat less after dark? Please share your comments below so others can learn from you.