the good vaidya
हिंदीBook a consult

Food card

Curd (dahi) at night

Charaka and the Ashtanga Hridaya both say not to eat curd at night. The one bedtime-yogurt trial we found measured blood sugar, not this rule.

Send on WhatsApp

What the texts say

न नक्तं दधि भुञ्जीत न चाप्यघृतशर्करम्| नामुद्गयूषं नाक्षौद्रं नोष्णं नामलकैर्विना
na naktaṃ dadhi bhuñjīta na cāpyaghṛtaśarkaram| nāmudgayūṣaṃ nākṣaudraṃ noṣṇaṃ nāmalakairvinā
Do not eat curd at night, nor hot, nor without ghee, sugar, green gram soup, honey or amla.[1]

Charaka states the rule without giving a reason. The verse that follows, 7.62, lists illnesses that come from ignoring these curd rules, but neither verse says what makes night different. The Ashtanga Hridaya makes the same rule in a separate line (Sutra 5.31): curd is not to be eaten at night, and not in spring, summer or autumn either.[1][2][3]

The modern view

The closest study we found is an adjacent one. In a randomised crossover trial, 15 adults with type 2 diabetes each spent three days with a bedtime yogurt snack, three with a bedtime egg snack and three with no snack. Fasting and night-time blood sugar differed between the two snacks, but neither snack differed from no snack. The trial measured blood sugar over a few days. It did not look at the illnesses the texts warn of, so it neither supports nor tests the rule.[4]

Classical text only

Questions people ask

Can I eat curd at night if I add sugar or honey?

Charaka lists the night rule and the accompaniments (ghee, sugar, green gram soup, honey or amla) as separate points in the same verse. Nothing in the verse says that an accompaniment makes curd acceptable at night.[1]

Is curd bad at night because digestion slows down?

That reason is not in the verses. Both texts give the night rule without explaining it.[1][3]

Related

Food

Curd in summer (garmi mein dahi)

The Ashtanga Hridaya says not to eat curd in spring, summer or autumn. No study we found has tested the seasonal rule.

Food

Heating curd (dahi garam karna)

Charaka says curd should not be eaten hot, and the Ashtanga Hridaya agrees. No study we found has tested the rule.

Food

Curd and honey (dahi aur shahad)

Charaka names honey as one of the things curd should be eaten with. One adjacent trial tested honey in probiotic yogurt, not the classical rule.

Food

Curd and sugar (dahi-chini)

Charaka names sugar as one of the things curd should be eaten with. We found no study that tests this rule.

Sources

  1. Charaka Samhita, Sutra Sthana 7.61 (Naveganadharaniya Adhyaya).
  2. Charaka Samhita, Sutra Sthana 7.62 (Naveganadharaniya Adhyaya).
  3. Ashtanga Hridaya, Sutra Sthana 5.31, GRETIL e-text.
  4. Abbie E, Francois ME, Chang CR, Barry JC, Little JP. A low-carbohydrate protein-rich bedtime snack to control fasting and nocturnal glucose in type 2 diabetes: a randomized trial. Clinical Nutrition. 2020;39:3601-3606. PMID 32204977.

Awaiting review by The Good Vaidya Medical Board. Prepared from the sources below and checked against each one.

Published 4 November 2026 · Last updated 4 November 2026

Suggest a correctionChangelogHow we write these pagesNot a diagnosis or prescription. In an emergency, call 112.