In American culture, food plays a prominent role. Unfortunately, so do obesity and poor nutrition. So is food a blessing or a curse? It can be both……………but it doesn’t need to be!
Many years ago, Benjamin Franklin said “To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.” We are finally coming around to this truth again with the concept of intermittent fasting. The internet is full of different applications of this concept, but basically it involves condensing your eating hours into a finite portion of your day. Very simple! It eliminates the 24/7 grazing! You schedule your meals so that there is enough time between dinner one night and breakfast the next morning for your body to attend to needed functions besides digestion.
It takes about 4-6 hours for your stomach to empty (or clean up) after a meal. Every bite you eat affects your body, sometimes for good and sometimes for ill. However, when you are constantly processing and storing food, there is no chance for organizing and repair work. Think about your kitchen… if groceries were constantly being dropped off with no time to put them where they go, your shelves would soon be in disarray. It is like that with your body. There needs to be time when your body is able to focus on other needed functions – muscle building, cell surveillance, autophagy (more on this later), etc.
So if you are a nibbler or a grazer, try to leave AT LEAST 12 hours between the last time you take a bite today and the next time you take a bite tomorrow! This can help if you are struggling with obesity, fatigue, or poor health of some variety. Consider letting your food be part of your health or medical regimen. Supply healthy nutrients, but ALSO supply rest periods for your stomach and digestive track.
A HEALTHY DIET STARTS WITH SETTING LIMITS – GOOD NUTRITION INVOLVES TIMES WHEN YOU EAT HEALTHY AND TIMES WHEN YOU DON’T EAT AT ALL!
Right on Susan!!!