TICK TOCK, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY'S CLOCK

Sneha Rai

Biological timekeeping is the core of life

Phrases like ‘Early to bed and early to rise’ and ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ now sound like old-wives tales to many. Today nutrition receives very low priority when we plan our meals. A wholesome meal has been replaced by fast food and natural sources of vitamins by multi-coloured pills. Little attention is paid to how all this impacts our digestive system, blood ph levels and metabolism.

Biological timekeeping is the core of life and if tampered with can affect functioning of the various bodily systems. Body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure, the release of hormones, alertness, energy, mood, and weight gain are all affected by our body’s rhythmic clock. The solution to this is very simple; eating on time.

Chronobiotic Nutrition is about eating foods at precise times of day for specific health results. Each human organ has a 'timing' relationship in its function. The connection between the human bio-rhythm and the environment is fascinating but often neglected. Imagine life could be ailment free if we stick to the discipline of our body’s clock and listen to its needs and demands.

For example, the peak period for the lungs is 3:00-5:00 am, which is why most deaths from lung ailments are recorded during this time. Clinical trials on mice have revealed that simply changing the time of the day at which a drug was administered to leukemic mice increased their survival rate three fold. This further confirms the belief that there lies a strong connection between food’s timing and the body’s response to it.

From a slimming perspective, day time has been identified as a catabolic phase when most of our fat and waste elimination takes place and night time as a fat storing phase. For an effective slimming regime, it is therefore best to avoid rich meals in the evening. We need to stimulate fat elimination and detoxification in the daytime and slow down during the nocturnal storage phase.

Without synchronization of all the physiological processes in the body, nutrients are locked up and they need protocols based on the time specific traffic laws of nutrient flow, absorption and assimilation. When this system of eating is followed, it results in optimum digestion, nutritional efficiency and high-level of wellness.