Circadian rhythm

Human Biological Clock

The strong connection between dietary patterns and circadian rhythm must not be ignored.

Introduction

Circadian rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. These natural processes respond primarily to light and dark and affect most living things, including animals, plants, and microbes. Chronobiology is the study of circadian rhythms.

Do you know our dietary patterns, appetite and satiety are all regulated  by our circadian rhythm? Unfortunately, we do not align our eating habits to it , and revolve it around our work schedules, social colanders and convenience instead, not realizing the pressure we put on our bodies to work against what it's designed for.

"The circadian rhythm and its impact on digestion is a law of nature that we should align ourselves with."

Not everyone needs a diet plan. Just by tweaking  their meal timings and aligning it with the  circadian rhythm, they can start to see noticeable improvement in their health like high energy levels, alertness, better sleep, digestion and water retention., waking up with a flatter stomach, no bloating, clearer skin, lesser cravings, and so much more.

What does eating according to the circadian rhythm mean?

In simple words, it means aligning our meals timings and patterns to the  sunset and sun rise, because of its impact on our digestion. As per circadian rhythm our digestive fire wakes up as the sun rises, peak around noon,, and slow down as the sun sets. 

Eating in accordance with  this rhythm means we consume our first meal of the day after sunrise, eat a substantial lunch in the afternoon and our last meal of the day with  or close to , sunset followed by fasting through the night  till the next morning,

The morning appetite

As the sun start to rise, so does our digestive fire. The first meal of the day thus should be post sunrise, especially if you feel hungry. If you don't embrace it  because your body is still elimination and processing the last meal.

At the same time , eating too early, before the sun rises, can go against circadian rhythm because your metabolic fire and digestive ability are not activated yet. The body is still in the  detoxification process and nothing that you eat  so early is going to be  broken down effectively.

The afternoon appetite

When the sun is atop, our digestive fire is at  its peak.  This makes lunch time really important and gives us the opportunity to have a really good meal. In fact aiming for a maximum calorie intake from your breakfast and lunch and the least from your  dinner best supports our digestion and the circadian rhythm. What  this also means is that  the ideal time to eat a desert is  in the afternoon.

The evening appetite

for As the sun starts setting and it gets dark our body naturally start to  secrete melatonin. The hormone that is responsible for inducing sleep. As a result a body slows down and is least interested in digestion. It is now more foccussed on repair, recovery, growth, rejuvenation, elimination and healing. To support this, its best to start tapering calorie intake and eat your last meal close to sunset, followed by giving our digestion a complete breakthrough. by fasting. This is also called  the circadian rhythm and is by far the most  natural way to fast.

Late night meals

for Our body is not designed to digest and break down food, as the sun starts setting. If you do have a late night meal, your body will still try to digest, but at the cost of 

• Irregular blood sugar levels
• Constipation
• Acidity
• bloating
• Sluggishness the next day

This is because the circadian rhythm is challenged. The pancreas also has a melatonin receptor, indicating that  on the release of melatonin, when it gets dark it binds to the receptor on the pancreatic cells, thereby suppressing its function. This speaks volumes about why a late night meal can mess up your digestion and sugar levels., and you may even wake up feeling acidic and heavy. Melatonin upon its release blocks pancreatic functions because digesting food at night is not what your body is interested in.

If you do end up  eating late, since your metabolism is slow, it is a struggle for your body to break down the food. You make your pancreas churn out more digestive enzymes, make your stomach produce more acids and forced itself to digest the meal. The Dutch and Europeans enjoy croissants, chocolate, pastries and similar foods in the morning when the metabolism is at its highest.

What about late night snacking?

Your body is not designed to digest food late at night. It is that simple. Now consider all of these events, how the body functions, and what may happen when you disrupts this circadian rhythm. The moment you have a late night meal, you disrupt every part of the rhythm, because it is all connected.

The circadian rhythm and its impact on digestion is a law of nature. If we challenge the law of nature by going against the circadian rhythm that governs thousands of functions in the human body at a cellular level, and even the best treatment, medicines, doctors, nutritionist, spiritual healers or yogi expert will not work.

And what if we align ourselves with the law of nature and add the right medicine, lifestyle, food, and so on ? That is what we begin to see prevention, healing recovery and healthy improvement occurs.

Link : https://natureloversindia123.blogspot.com/2022/09/circadian-rhythm.html