Circadian Rhythm Fasting, The 6 Benefits To Better Health and Wellbeing
Is Circadian Rhythm Fasting the most natural way to better health and well-being? Human evolution and research may point to that being the case.
The Circadian Rhythm Diet and Circadian Rhythm Fasting are remarkably powerful and simple. Let’s look at why and how they can increase health, and well-being and may easily extend life expectancy.
What Is Fasting?
Fasting is the willful refrain from eating and drinking. In a physiological context, fasting may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight, or to the metabolic state achieved after complete digestion and absorption of a meal. –Wikipedia.
I believe there are only two distinct forms of fasting and every other form is derived from them.
There is long-term fasting where you for all intent and purposes go on a hunger strike. You don’t consume solid food for 24 hours or more. Liquids, preferably water are allowed.
Then there is the Intermittent Fast where you may not consume food or water for, 8, 12, or up to 24-hour intervals. My favorite is the Dry Fast where I refrain from all food and liquids. My longest Dry Fast has been 3 days.
I am looking to improve to 5 days in the future.
What Is The Circadian Rhythm?
What is Circadian Rhythm’s definition and why is it so important? It is the body’s 24-hour internal clock that controls the wake and sleep cycle.
The Circadian Rhythm runs in the background of your brain as it cycles between sleepiness and awareness as you experience the wake and sleep cycle.
Without going into the scientific weeds allow me to explain. It’s all about hormones in the body. One is called Cortisol and the other is Melatonin. The system is designed for Cortisol to increase in the morning increasing the feeling of energy peaking around Noon.
As you may have guessed as Cortisol begins to decrease Melatonin begins to increase and begin to peak around bedtime. There are other hormones involved but for simplicity, we will just focus on these two right now.
When the Circadian Rhythm is functioning properly when you wake up in the morning Cortisol begins to give you an increased feeling of energy. As Melatonin begins to take over an increasing feeling of your need to rest begins as you head towards the evening.
The Hypothalamus portion of the brain plays an important role in the Circadian Rhythm process. It simply signals the body its time to rise and shine when there is daylight and time to prepare for bedtime when it is nighttime.
Human beings have evolved to thrive under this day-and-night cycle. Plantlife is a perfect example of that. Sunlight is the most abundant source of energy on the planet Earth and plant life takes the best advantage of it in the form of photosynthesis.
Plantlife uses this process of converting sunlight energy in the daily production of food. Human beings can hold their own in this daily process because it’s strongly linked to the Circadian rhythm.
While making healthy food choices will have the most effect on your health and well-being the time of day you eat may hold a close second place.
As your metabolism is closely linked to your Circadian Rhythm. Remember due to the effects of the Circadian Rhythm we experience an increased feeling of energy and alertness beginning in the morning triggered by daylight.
We also have a need for increased nutrients to fuel our bodies during those times. Again, as you may have guessed in the evening as melatonin levels increase preparing for the body’s rest and repair food is discouraged.
Many experts believe aligning your eating habits with your natural Circadian Rhythm will increase the ability to maintain optimal weight and improve overall health and well-being.
What Is Circadian Rhythm Fasting?
All human beings have evolved to be in sync with our Circadian Rhythm. All over the world, human beings practice similar wake, sleep, and eating patterns.
As a result, going against our metabolism by foregoing nightly sleep or eating late at night puts us at higher risk of obesity, diabetes, and other ailments.
As a result, we have evolved to practice a form of intermittent fasting as we naturally refrain from eating as we rest and repair during the night.
Just following our natural metabolism by eating earlier during the day and fasting during the night benefits our health and well-being.
A Circadian Rhythm diet is a form of intermittent fasting. The difference is intermittent fasting allows you to set your own feeding schedule circadian rhythm fasting requires you to stop eating by 7 pm.
Another small but powerful difference is Circadian Rhythm Fasting encourages you to have breakfast in the morning. Yes, you must eat breakfast to fuel the beginning of your day when cortisol is present at its highest level.
Circadian Rhythm Fasting encourages you to eat between 7 am and 7 pm and fast the 12 hours in between. This is natural, simple, and built into the evolution of human existence.
Life is so simple, why do we complicate it?
Circadian Rhythm Fasting is your body’s natural clock synchronizing with your external environment triggered by daylight (The Sun) and nightlight (The Moon).
Begin Circadian Rhythm Fasting
The Circadian Rhythm Diet is so baked into the cake of human evolution I am embarrassed discussing how to implement it.
It’s like me declaring I and I alone have discovered water on the planet Earth but here we go. We all can benefit from the Circadian Rhythm Diet because it is natural to us.
At its basic level, Circadian Rhythm Fasting is eating your meals between 7 am and 7 pm and then fasting for 12 hours afterward. Nothing is that simple but that is what it is. I don’t believe there is a right and wrong way but I do believe best practices should be observed.
Beginners should still schedule 3 main well-balanced meals during the day. There are plenty of diets many people follow. There are vegetarianism, Veganism, Keto, Paleo diets, and the like.
They all can be practiced and complimented by Circadian Rhythm Fasting. Your 3 main meals should consist of what is allowed by your diet of choice.
For me, my 3 main meals would consist of high-quality proteins, a ton of vegetables, and some fiber. Your main meals can look different.
The Circadian Rhythm diet dictates you should have a healthy breakfast upon waking up in the morning. Whatever that means to you. You decide.
At night look towards healthy lighter meals as you begin to wind down and prepare for sleep, restoration, and repair.
A few snacks are allowed during the day. Be aware that just because you strictly follow the meal times suggested by Circadian Rhythm Fasting does not mean you can have unhealthy meals and make other poor food choices.
Circadian Rhythm Fasting dictates you fast for the last 12 hours of your day and sleeps for at least 7 of them. That would yield the most benefits of Circadian Rhythm Fasting.
What Are The Benefits Of Circadian Rhythm Fasting?
The Circadian Rhythm Diet also has other health benefits, like:
- Weight loss
- More efficient metabolism
- Increased energy
- Better digestion
- Reduced inflammation
- Improved immune function
Circadian Rhythm Fasting has been proven to help inflammatory diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, infections, metabolic disorders, certain cancers, central nervous system disorders, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and the like.
Conclusion
In my research, I must admit I have found Circadian Rhythm Fasting and the Circadian rhythm diet has undeniable health benefits. I also have found many researchers say they offer no more benefit than another diet or plan.
I believe anyone seeking a better way to increase health and well-being is generally more healthy than most. Science and research are great but humans don’t know everything.
The Circadian Rhythm is natural and human beings have evolved around it for millions of years. That is a powerful fact in reality. Is Circadian Rhythm Fasting Natural?
Can you benefit from the Circadian Rhythm Diet or Circadian Rhythm Fasting? The facts discussed above strongly suggest a yes. Tell me what you think in the comments below.
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