What if I told you there is an easy way to improve your health markers, and it has nothing to do with what you eat. Rather it has to do with the “timing” of your eating.
The nutrition community tends to focus attention on “what to eat”, and “what to avoid” to improve our health. I know that is a big part of the education I provide to my clients. But little attention is given to “when” to eat.
But the timing of food intake can have real health impacts, and it can be relatively easy to implement into your daily routine, regardless of what kind of diet you may follow.
A couple of years ago, research conducted out of the University of California-San Diego, found that fasting for 13 hours or more per night offered protection against recurrence of illness among women with early stage breast cancer.
They looked at the data for 2,413 women, average age of 52, who had early stage breast cancer. On average, the participants fasted for 12.5 hours each night.
During the follow up period of about seven years, the study looked for re-occurrence of breast cancer or new breast cancer, in addition to death from breast cancer or any cause over an average of an eleven-year period.
Women who fasted for less than 13 hours a night had a 36% higher risk for breast cancer recurrence, compared with those who fasted for 13 hours or more per night.
They also found better outcomes for those who started their fast in the evening after completing their dinner meal, rather than extending their fast to exclude breakfast. In other words, they quit eating around 7pm and extended their fast to 8am. In fact, the lead researcher says that “skipping breakfast is a marker of eating at night”.
If you think about it, we evolved to eat during the day, when we are active, and to fast at night, when we are inactive. However, the modern world, with lighting and power available 24/7, has disrupted this pattern. We can now stay up as late as we choose, and it becomes easy to eat in the evening before bed. It even can become an evening ritual for some. Let’s face it, it isn’t the broccoli or kale that is coming out of the fridge at 9pm, it more likely to be ice cream.
However, it is metabolically detrimental to eat a lot of energy (food) and then lay down. In fact, our largest meal of the day shouldn’t be dinner, it should be breakfast or lunch. In fact, our bodies are more sensitive to blood sugar in the morning and early afternoon, than in the evening. In other words, our bodies are better able to burn fuel during the day, then in the evening. Thus, we should be eating most of our food during the daytime, when we are most active, not in the evening when we are winding down for the day. You could say this is just common sense.
An extended fasting period can also improve other bio-markers for health such as: fasting blood sugars, fasting insulin, HA1c, and inflammatory markers. As well, it gives the gut a needed break, and allows for rest and repair mechanisms to be optimized.
So I ask you, “how long is your nightly fast”? Is this an area you could focus on? The easiest way to start implementing this is to set a “cut-off” time for which you don’t eat past, instead of trying to count your hours each day. I always recommend trying not to eat at least three hours before bedtime. So if you go to bed between 10 – 11pm, then cut off your eating by 7 – 7:30pm. To extend your fasting, don’t eat breakfast until 8 or 9am. Also, challenge yourself to make dinner a small and light meal. See how it goes, you might find you have better sleep, more energy the next day, and improved clarity.
If you find this interesting, I would invite you to listen to the lead researcher of this study be interviewed. She presents a very solid argument as to why fasting for 13 hours or more per night is one of the best things you can do for your health.
I hope you enjoyed this article. If so, be sure to share with family and friends!
In Health,
