Yesterday I shared with you the importance of timing when it comes to exercise.

I want to talk about timing again. But today I want to focus on the best time to EAT to dodge disease.

Because the truth is, timing IS everything.

In fact, WHEN you eat is just as important as WHAT you’re eating.

You see, our bodies operate on a 24-hour “internal clock” called the circadian rhythm. And there’s a method of eating that honors this invisible timeline.

When you follow this method, you slash your risk for all kinds of devastating health conditions from diabetes to immune issues.

By now, you’ve likely heard of intermittent fasting (IF). It’s sometimes called time-restricted eating and it’s been all the rage for the last few years.

But don’t make the mistake of thinking IF is some kind of fad. Or even that it’s brand-new. It’s actually been around for a long time. And it’s FINALLY getting some well-deserved attention.

IF is quite simple. It’s a method in which you restrict all eating to a specific window of time, anywhere from six to 12 hours.

When researchers reviewed all the existing animal and human studies on this eating style some MAJOR benefits became quite clear.

Time-restricted eating was associated with…

• lower risk of metabolic disorders, including obesity and diabetes
• enhanced aerobic capacity
• improvements in heart function

And unlike traditional “diets,” changing WHAT you eat isn’t necessary with IF. You don’t even need to cut portion size to see big benefits.

(Although those kinds of changes can have an elevated impact when done in tandem with time-restricted eating.)

As I mentioned earlier, intermittent fasting respects your natural circadian rhythm. And when you start eating this way it can reset that internal clock.

According to the review, the best way to trigger this reset is to commit to eating EVERYTHING that you’re going to eat in a day within an eight to 10-hour window.

So, for example, if you have your first bite at 9 a.m., you must put your fork down for the final time by 7 p.m. But, you can choose whatever window works best for YOU.

In other words, it boils down to no after-dinner (or before-breakfast) snacking.

For most folks cutting out late night and early morning nibbling isn’t going to be a big sacrifice. But the difference that small change can make in your health could be HUGE.

P.S. Researchers recently uncovered a weird link between intermittent fasting and lower rates of COVID-19 hospitalization. And perhaps the strangest finding of all is that you don’t even need to be super-compliant about your fasting to reap the benefits. Click here for the whole scoop.

Source:

“Time-restricted Eating for the Prevention and Management of Metabolic Diseases,” Endocrine Reviews, Volume 43, Issue 2, April 2022, Pages 405–436, https://doi.org/10.1210/endrev/bnab027