Food, why timing is everything...
Posted on 17th July 2024 at 07:08
We often talk about what to eat – and what is best minimised or avoided (!) – but less so about when to eat. While it may seem like a secondary consideration, timing does play an important part. Not only in how the food we eat is digested but, just as important, what then happens to it.
If you stop and think about it, food is simply a fuel. We may think of it in other terms – something we like or don’t like, perhaps as a treat or pick me up – but to our bodies it’s just fuel. This is why having a “proper” breakfast is so important. It puts fuel in our tanks for the day ahead and, more importantly, is burned up in the process.
But what about the food we eat in the evenings, perhaps not long before going to bed? Well, it’s still providing fuel, but fuel that’s not needed during the night.
So, what happens to it?
In very simple terms, it gets deposited as fat to be used – or not used (!) – at a later date. And this is the reason why late night eating is so closely linked with longer term weight gain and, just as important, difficulties in losing it.
It’s why the old adage of “Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince and Dinner like a Pauper” still holds true. Our bodies simply don’t need large amounts of food later in the day. This is not only from a common sense – or fuel – point of view, but digesting it interferes with the important detoxing / cleansing that goes on in our bodies overnight while we’re sleeping.
So, what if you’re working and have to eat in the evening when you get home?
Well, it goes without saying, that it’s best to do so as early as possible, ideally at least 3 hours before you go to bed. If you’re wondering why 3 hours, this is the time food spends in the Stomach before passing down into the Lower Intestine. Not only will this help prevent a full Stomach pressing on surrounding organs – such as the Heart, Lungs and Liver – when you go to bed, but also resources being diverted from all the housekeeping our bodies need to do overnight to digesting your evening meal.
The other important thing is to keep the meal as light as possible. And, if you’ve ever had a large, rich meal before going to bed, you’ll know why! Indigestion, Heartburn and more…
Which brings us on to another timing issue and one that goes against the advice of recent years. The importance of leaving time between meals, rather than grazing throughout the day. Grazing seemed like an easy way to get round having “three square meals” a day and ensured that blood sugar levels – and energy (!) – remained stable and high. Unfortunately, it also places a lot of additional strain on the body, continually having to digest smaller amounts of food, particularly the release of insulin needed to do so. As this tended to be coupled with a high carb diet – which is easy to grab on the go – its effects were compounded, hence it being linked to Insulin Resistance, Type II Diabetes and weight gain.
This is one of the reasons why Intermittent Fasting has become so popular in recent years, you can find out more about it here.
So, it’s not hard to see where we’re going with this. To also think of food in terms of fuel. What our bodies actually need to function efficiently AND when they need it. It really is that simple.
As always, the choice is yours.
Picture by unknown author
Share this post: