Tag Archives: circadian code

12 hour rest from eating

Intermittent fasting has been a trend for some time. I haven’t done much of it myself, because I notice I perform better when working in the mornings when I have some breakfast, so I eat in order to fully concentrate when I’m with clients. On holiday, I will delay breakfast with ease for the sake of leisure.

A colleague recommended books by Satchin Panda and I read the Circadian Code. Here’s the TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/satchin_panda_circadian_code_to_extend_longevity

The science in the book was very compelling in setting up your life more in line with hours of sunlight and ensuring you have a window of at least 12 hours where you are not eating(fasting). If we sleep 8 hours, then it is relatively easy to have an additional 4 hours of no eating. It is more ideal to eat an earlier dinner to ensure the food is digested so the digestive system can slow down at its natural time, which is at night. The concept of ideal times for organs is very much in line with traditional chinese medicine, where energy in the body moves through a different organ every 2 hours.

Minimizing exposure to screens and artificial light at night is helpful for better quality sleep since it mimics natural light conditions. No one will be perfect with these practices living in a big city- compliance most of the time and being flexible makes it work with major benefits to your long term health.