It is generally believed that western lifestyle arrived in India with the British. The process began in 1800s when the East India Company people along with other Europeans entered India under the pretext of trade and started socialising with kings and nobles. The disaster was complete after the British rule began along with the industrial revolution which brought processed food, refined oils and a renewed effort to destroy ancient Indian cultural practices.
The number one reason
Melatonin hormone gets your body ready to sleep. It starts shutting down the internal organs one by one leaving some of them awake for the night. The process begins four hours after sunset, well before the first wave of sleep hitting the body which is 11 pm.
If melatonin is the sleep hormone then the opposite of melatonin is insulin which is the day hormone or the energy hormone. Insulin pushes excess blood sugar into the cells so that it can be converted into energy. This process roughly begins in the morning during sunrise where the first rays of sun resets the circadian rhythm of the body. This reset of body clock also helps you to sleep better.
The first organ in the body that melatonin shuts down is pancreas which secretes insulin. So imagine after you eat a meal and there is less insulin in your body what is going to happen. The glucose in your blood cannot enter the cells. The liver then recalls this extra glucose and converts it into visceral fat. Not to mention, sleeping with high blood sugar levels in your body. So during your sleep time when you are supposed to burn body fat, it goes the other way round.
Melatonin also puts other things to sleep, like your digestive system and metabolic system.
If you are having any kind of meal at 9 pm, this is bad news for you. But if you are an Indian then the situation is even worse.
Indians are managing to put on belly fat with wild nights
We cannot pin point the exact time when we transitioned, but today Indians plan virtually everything late into the night. The big fat wedding goes late into the night. A friends or family get together again goes late into the night. Heck even regular dinners go late into the night. Women are specially at the receiving end because they are supposed to wait for the male members to finish their dinner and then make the most of their turn. Having dinner at 7 pm is unimaginable.
A difficult but possible remedy
We as women must need to first explain the bad effects of eating late meals. The toll is heavy especially on children who have to sleep early so that they can go to school in the morning. Insufficient sleep for school going children will affect their concentration in school. Studies will make them tired.
To set the body hunger clock of every member in the family, encourage the practise of getting up early and going out to see the sun. This will help with early dinner.
If things are under your control then start will dinner at 7 pm. This will be the most significant life changing moment ever.