Ayurvedic teachers often say that the evening meal should be early and light. This tool turns that into a clock time for your city. You choose a city and a usual bedtime, and it shows today’s sunset, a suggested time to sit down, a time to have finished by, and the same for each of the next six days, because sunset moves through the year.
It is a general wellbeing suggestion and not medical advice. If a doctor has given you meal times, keep them.
What the tradition says, and what it does not
The tradition describes the day as having a main meal at midday, when the Sun is highest and digestion is said to be strongest, and a lighter meal in the evening. The guide to meal timing and the guide to the evening and sleep set out the habits teachers give: eat when you are hungry, leave the previous meal time to digest, keep the evening meal lighter and give it time before sleep. The doshas through the day page explains why the evening is called a kapha time.
What we have not found is a clock time for dinner in the classical texts. Teachers vary. Some say to eat while it is still light, some within a couple of hours of sunset, and some set the time by bedtime instead. This tool therefore says plainly that its window is our own arrangement of two common teachings, and not a rule from a text.
How the window is worked out
The tool first finds sunset for your city and date. It calculates it in your browser with the same sun routine the daily routine planner uses, and shows it in the city’s local time. It is accurate to within a few minutes. It does not use your location: you choose the city.
The window then starts 30 minutes before sunset. It ends at the earlier of two limits: 90 minutes after sunset, or three hours before your bedtime. A meal is taken to last about 45 minutes, so if your bedtime is early compared with sunset and the two limits leave less room than that, the window is shortened and the tool tells you to finish by the later limit and keep the meal light.
The result also says which limit applies. In a northern summer, when the Sun sets late, your bedtime usually sets the limit. In winter, or near the equator, the Sun usually does. The table of the next seven days shows how the window drifts.
Cities, seasons and the far north
Sunset moves a great deal through the year, and a great deal more the further you live from the equator. At latitudes far from India, dinner at sunset in June can mean eating at ten at night, and in December can mean eating before four in the afternoon. The window is capped by bedtime for that reason, and in very high latitudes, where the Sun does not rise or set normally, the tool says so and gives no time. In those places, and in the southern hemisphere, many teachers say to follow local daylight and the routine of your own household. The seasons guides explain how the tradition adapts to climate.
How to use it
Treat the result as a target and not a deadline. Few households eat at the same time every evening, and the tradition itself puts more weight on regularity, on lightness and on a calm meal than on an exact minute. If you cannot eat early, a later dinner that is light and ends at least three hours before bed is the practical next best. If you work late, take your main meal at midday if you can, and keep dinner small.
Safety and good sense
Eating earlier or lighter is a general habit and is safe for most people, but changing meal times is not always safe. If you have diabetes, take medicines with meals or at set times, work shifts, are pregnant or breastfeeding, are an older adult, or are caring for a child, keep the schedule your doctor has given you and ask before moving meals. Children need regular meals and snacks. Please do not skip dinner to match a time. If you have, or suspect, an eating disorder, please speak to a doctor.
This is a tradition passed on as education, and it is not advice. See the method and sources page for how we use the texts, and the medical disclaimer. Take any health concern to a doctor, and look to a registered Ayurvedic practitioner (BAMS in India) for Ayurvedic treatment. The vikriti quiz and the agni quiz look at recent patterns and everyday appetite, and neither suggests any treatment.
Frequently asked questions
↳ What time should I eat dinner according to Ayurveda?
Teachers usually say early and light, while it is still light or soon after sunset, and about three hours before sleep. The classical texts do not give a clock time as far as we have found, so this tool offers a gentle window.
↳ Must I finish dinner before sunset?
No. Some teachers prefer it, but the tradition gives no hard rule and many households eat later. The tool suggests starting about 30 minutes before sunset and finishing no later than 90 minutes after, or three hours before bed.
↳ Why does the window change through the year?
Because sunset moves. In the northern summer it comes late and in winter early, and the shift is larger the further you are from the equator. The tool recalculates for each day and shows a week at a time.
↳ Is an early dinner safe for everyone?
Not necessarily. People with diabetes, anyone on medicines timed with meals, shift workers, pregnant or breastfeeding women, older adults and children should keep the meal times their doctor has set, and ask before changing them.
↳ Does the tool use my location?
No. You choose a city from the list and your browser calculates sunset for it. Nothing about your choice is sent to us.