Keto. Paleo. Atkins. Raw. Banting. Low-carb. FODMAP. Potato. Vegetarian. Pescatarian. Vegan. Carnivore. And that’s just right off the top of my head. There are tons of diet protocols. And wars fought between their acolytes. Some diets stick around, more come and go.
There is however a connecting thread that runs through all of them, from the extreme of only plants to the other extremity of only meat. They all concern themselves with what to eat.
But good health is not only about what to eat, or how much.
It’s about WHEN to eat.
This boils down to circadian rhythm aka the body’s internal clock. The term has long been familiar to me but I assumed it was simply about when you wake up and when you fell asleep. Well, you know what they say about assumptions?
“The circadian clock is the internal timing system that interacts with the timing of light and food to produce our daily rhythms.
Our job is to maintain the clock so we can live with optimal health. The best way to do this is to live in accordance with the circadian clock, rather than push against it.”
That’s from Dr. Satchin Panda. He’s the body-clock guru whose book The Circadian Code made major waves in the health and wellness space last year. It’s a must read for anyone looking to seriously put their health right. It details how the circadian clock works, why it’s so critical and then provides clear, practical instructions on how to maximize your circadian day and thereby maximize your health and wellbeing.
Every one of the trillions of cells swimming in your blood right now have an internal clock network that has been programmed by millions of years of evolution to activate or deactivate tens of thousands of genes and their subsequent bodily functions in response to the natural rhythms of life. Your body was built to be the most complicated of biological orchestras that when playing in harmony creates vitality and abundance but when out of sink and out of tune sinks into malfunction and dis-ease. As Dr. Panda puts it,
“I believe most of the disease that affects us in adulthood
can be traced back to circadian disruption”.
Specifically? Anything and everything you can think of – cancer, fibromyalgia, colitis, rhinitis, “all of the -itis“, multiple sclerosis, liver disease, heart disease, chronic fatigue, Crohn’s, obesity, diabetes, depression, autism, ADHD, bipolar, PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks, migraines, epilepsy, etc, etc, etc.
Why? Well, besides some specific timing issues related to eating and insulin concerning obesity, diabetes and the other metabolic diseases, it comes down to inflammation. To be crystal clear, inflammation is the true devil of dis-ease. It is abundant in the newest medical insights and will very soon become mainstream knowledge that the spectrum of disease begins and ends with inflammation. And with a cracked circadian clock, your body is chronically in a state of inflammation and inflammation is your enemy.
So, onto the WHEN. Dr. Panda states the when is “the next, best hope to prevent or to accelerate the cure of chronic disease”. That is quite the statement. More so, major medical institutions like the American Heart and Diabetes Association share his conclusion. This is big.
Basically, the moment you put food in your mouth for the first time on a new day the internal orchestra begins playing. All the clocks in all the cells in all the organs reset with that first bite and continue this impossibly complex interconnected symphony throughout the day. This determines a range of important factors – energy production, immune system strength, cleaning and reparation (known as autophagy) and sleep inducement. Much of this relates to the gut, which along with inflammation is the most relevant frontier in health and wellbeing. And, it’s not only when you start eating that matters. When you stop is equally critical. That again affects the biological orchestra of factors such as sleep, repair, growth, cleaning, fat creation and insulin management. This is where you and I would discuss time-restricted eating (TRE).
In a nutshell, living in opposition to the human circadian clock will foster conditions ripe for dis-ease. This is akin to living in opposition to one’s innate humanness. When you eat is just as important as what. But I’ll leave the last words to the man himself, Dr. Panda, who couldn’t put it any clearer –
“If you are currently suffering from chronic illness, remember that one of the best things you can do to reverse your course or lessen the severity is to enhance your circadian code. We are beginning to see many examples of people who are finding a whole new healthy lifestyle once they’ve tried. Some have even reported that they no longer need to take medication.
The role TRE plays in syncing your code and enhancing your health cannot be overstated.”
All information and quotes above are drawn from from The Circadian Code, LOSE Weight, Supercharge Your Energy and Sleep Well Every Night, by Dr. Satchin Panda. No time to read? Prefer audio? No sweat, Dr. Panda outlines the highlights of the book in the podcast below.
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Disclaimer:
Remember dear reader, I am neither a doctor nor any sort of medical physician in any capacity. None of the information presented above can be construed as any sort of medical advice in any sort of manner. You as the reader is solely responsible for creating and implementing your own physical, mental and emotional well-being, decisions, choices and actions. As such, the reader agrees that the author is not and will not be liable or responsible for any actions or inaction taken by the reader or for any direct or indirect results. This information is simply presented and whatever you decide to do with it is your choice and your responsibility.
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