Eating at the wrong time can turn your healthy food into junk food! This is an extraordinary new insight in science. Not only that but research has discovered we need to eat regularly and always within the same set timeframe. Otherwise it causes a ‘food hangover’. The focus shouldn’t be on what you eat (forget nutrient, 5 food group and other theories), but on when to eat. And here’s what they say about that:

(Research references Sachin Panda, Professor of Regulatory Biology at University of California)

Don’t eat for at least one to two hours after waking up. Melatonin is still high and cortisol levels are up which stops glucose uptake / digestion risking development of diabetes.

Breakfast resets the body clock.

Don’t have coffee before you eat. This causes heartburn and acid reflux and interferes with the energy producing cycle of the organs. Coffee before food is also affiliated with sleep problems.

Bright light and exercise upon waking ignites the body clock / circadian rhythm.

Eat a simple meal in evening and aim for a minimum 12 hour fasting window during the night so organs can do their job (lots of gut lining healing takes place during the night).

Their research was done on mice, observing their organs during a 24 hour period to see how they are affected by lifestyle. But we didn’t need the mice, or the lab. Chinese medicine’s been following these tenets for thousands of years.