Why It Is Better To Eat When It Is Still Light

Nutritionists and biologists have debated for many years about the most appropriate diet for optimal health. Studies focus on the qualities of foods, but there is growing evidence that how the intakes are spread throughout the day is also crucial.

In the body, many processes follow a 24-hour rhythm. For example, the wake-sleep cycle. And recent studies indicate that eating should be synchronized with this cycle.

There are good and bad times to eat

That is the starting idea of ​​the book The Circadian Code, by Dr. Satchin Panda, a professor at the Salk Institute and an expert in research on circadian rhythms. Panda recommends doing all the intakes in a window of 8 to 10 hours (for example, between 11 in the morning and 7 in the afternoon) and fasting the remaining 14-16 hours.

This recommendation is based on the fact that we are more prepared to digest food in the morning and in the afternoon, due to the production cycles of hormones and digestive enzymes.

However, most people start consuming food shortly after waking up and take their last meal before going to bed. In this way the digestive rest period is practically reduced by half.

According to Dr. Panda, this reduced time does not allow the digestive system and other body systems and organs to rest and regenerate, which can lead to metabolic disorders and other diseases.

In the body there are many watches

It has been known for a long time that the body is governed by a director clock located in the brain, in the hypothalamus, which governs the sleep-wake cycle. But in the last couple of decades, it has been discovered that several sets of genes are expressed at the same time every day, which surely means that practically each organ is governed by its own clock.

For example, the pancreas increases the production of insulin during the day, which controls the concentration of glucose – sugar – in the blood, and decreases it at night. The intestine also has a clock that regulates the production of enzymes, the absorption of nutrients and the purification of waste. The millions of bacteria that make up the gut microbiota also operate on a daily basis.

We digest better when there is light

As a consequence, we burn more calories and digest food more efficiently in the morning and worse at night. Proof of this is that shift workers who tend to eat at night suffer a higher incidence of obesity, diabetes, some types of cancer and heart disease.

Dr. Panda and his colleagues took mice and divided them into two groups. One had 24-hour access to high-fat and sugary foods. The other ate the same foods but in a daily window of only eight hours.

Despite the fact that both groups consumed the same amount of calories, the mice that ate when they wanted to became fat and sick, while the mice on the time-restricted regimen showed no tendency to obesity, fatty liver or metabolic disease .

Less obesity, oxidation and hypertension

Dr. Courtney Peterson, a professor at the University of Alabama, conducted a similar experiment with people. Participants ate within a 12-hour window for five weeks and then reduced that window to just 5 hours in the morning.

By analyzing the variables, he found that when people were subjected to the strictest margin, they showed lower insulin levels, less oxidation, less hunger at night and significantly lower blood pressure.

In conclusion, studies suggest that for most people it would be a good idea to group their meals during daylight hours and eat earlier and lighter meals.