2551: Meal Timing: Does It Matter When You Eat? by Nancy Clark on Time Restricted Eating & Nutrition

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[00:01:23] Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or welcome for the first time if you're new here. This is

[00:01:52] the podcast where I act as your very own personal narrator and read to you from some of the most

[00:01:57] popular health and fitness blogs online. And with that let's get right to it as we optimize your

[00:02:03] life. Meal timing, does it matter when you eat? By Nancy Clark of NancyClarkRD.com.

[00:02:15] Meals and snacking patterns have changed over the past 40 years. You have undoubtedly noticed

[00:02:20] that many of us are eating fewer calories from meals and more calories from snacks.

[00:02:25] As a result I get questions from both athletes and non-athletes alike

[00:02:30] about how to best fuel their bodies. Should I stop eating after 8 p.m. which is better,

[00:02:35] to eat three or six meals a day? Does it really matter if I skip breakfast?

[00:02:40] Because meals can be a central part of our social life and busy training schedules can

[00:02:45] contribute to chaotic eating patterns, many athletes disregard the fact that food is more than just

[00:02:51] fuel. When and what you eat impacts your future health and today's performance. Food consumption

[00:02:59] affects the central clock in your brain. This clock controls circadian rhythms and impacts

[00:03:04] all aspects of metabolism including how your organs function. Restricting daytime food and

[00:03:10] eating in chaotic patterns disrupts normal biological rhythms. The end result? Erratic

[00:03:16] meal timing can impact the development of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity.

[00:03:23] This article offers food for thought from the American Heart Association's scientific

[00:03:27] statement on meal timing and frequency, implications for cardiovascular disease prevention.

[00:03:33] The information is particularly important for athletes because training schedules can really

[00:03:38] upset standard meal times. Plus, most of us want to live a long and healthful life,

[00:03:44] hence we need to pay attention to meal timing starting at an early age.

[00:03:49] Children and adolescents who skip meals have a higher risk of developing health issues like a

[00:03:53] higher body mass index, more belly fat, and higher serum insulin and blood glucose levels.

[00:04:00] Not a good start for a long and healthy life. Parents take note, be responsible with family

[00:04:06] meals. Older athletes also want to stay healthy. Over the next 25 years, older Americans are expected

[00:04:13] to grow to 22% of the US population. We need to outlive the diseases of aging. That starts

[00:04:19] with fueling wisely on a regular schedule and enjoying regular exercise.

[00:04:25] Breakfast. Is it really the most important meal of the day?

[00:04:29] If you define breakfast as eating 20-35% of your daily calories within 2 hours of waking,

[00:04:35] about 1 fourth of US adults do not eat breakfast. This drop in breakfast consumption over the past

[00:04:42] 40 years parallels the increase in obesity. Breakfast skippers tend to snack impulsively,

[00:04:48] think donuts, pastries, chips and other fatty foods. They end up with poor quality diets,

[00:04:54] an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and overweight and obesity.

[00:05:00] Eating a wholesome breakfast starts the day with performance-enhancing fuel at the right

[00:05:04] time for your body's engine. If you exercise in the morning, fuel up by having part of your breakfast

[00:05:10] before you work out and then enjoy the rest of the breakfast afterwards. This will help you get

[00:05:14] more out of your workout, improve recovery, and click with natural circadian rhythms.

[00:05:21] Meal frequency. Is it better to eat 1, 3, 6, 9 or 12 times a day?

[00:05:28] In terms of weight, eating 2,000 calories divided into 1, 3, 6, 9 or 12 meals

[00:05:35] doesn't change your body fatness. In a study where breakfast provided 54% of the day's calories

[00:05:42] and dinner only 11% of calories or the reverse, the subjects, in this case women,

[00:05:48] had no differences in fat loss. Yet, in terms of cardiovascular health,

[00:05:53] the big breakfast led to significant reductions in metabolic risk factors

[00:05:58] and better blood glucose control. The bigger breakfast matched food intake to circadian rhythms

[00:06:03] that regulated metabolism. Athletes who skimp at breakfast commonly get too hungry and then

[00:06:10] devour way too many calories of ice cream and cookies. If they do this at night,

[00:06:14] when the body is poorly programmed to deal with an influx of sweets,

[00:06:18] they are paving their path to health issues. Hence, if you are eating a lot of calories at

[00:06:23] night, at least make them low in sugary foods to match the reduced insulin response in the evening.

[00:06:29] This is particularly important for shift workers who eat at odd hours during the night and tend

[00:06:35] to have a higher rate of heart disease. Should you stop eating after 8 pm?

[00:06:40] There's little question that late night eating is associated with obesity. Research with 239

[00:06:46] U.S. adults who ate more than one third of their calories in the evening

[00:06:50] had twice the risk of being obese. Among 60,000 Japanese adults, the combination of late

[00:06:55] night eating plus skipping breakfast was associated with a greater risk of diabetes,

[00:07:00] heart disease and obesity. A study with 2,200 U.S. middle-aged women reported each 10%

[00:07:08] increase in the number of calories eaten between 5 pm and midnight was associated with a 3%

[00:07:13] increase in C-reactive protein, which is a marker of inflammation.

[00:07:18] Inflammation is associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity.

[00:07:24] Wise athletes make a habit of eating the majority of their calories earlier in the day to curb

[00:07:29] evening eating. The best plan. Plan to eat intentionally.

[00:07:35] Failing to plan for meals can easily end up in missed meals, chaotic fueling patterns,

[00:07:40] and impaired health to say nothing of reduced performance.

[00:07:44] If you struggle with getting your food act together, consult with a sports dietitian who

[00:07:49] will help you develop a winning food plan. Use the referral network at scandpg.org

[00:07:56] to find a local sports dietitian. Instead of holding off to have a big dinner,

[00:08:01] enjoy food when your body needs the fuel, when it is most active.

[00:08:06] If you worry you'll eat just as much at night if you eat more during the day and you'll get fat,

[00:08:11] think again. Be mindful before you eat and ask yourself,

[00:08:15] does my body actually need this fuel? Most active individuals can and should

[00:08:21] enjoy about 500-700 calories 4 times a day, breakfast, early lunch, second lunch, and dinner.

[00:08:29] To overcome the fear that this much food will make you fat, reframe your thoughts.

[00:08:34] You are simply moving calories in your pre or post-dinner snacks into a substantial and wholesome

[00:08:40] second lunch, such as a peanut butter and honey sandwich or an apple with cheese and crackers.

[00:08:47] The purpose of this second lunch is to curb your evening appetite,

[00:08:51] refuel your muscles from your workout earlier in the day or fuel them for an after work

[00:08:56] session and align your food intake to your circadian rhythms. Give it a try.

[00:09:05] You just listened to the post titled, Meal Timing. Does it matter when you eat?

[00:09:09] By Nancy Clark of NancyClarkRD.com and I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:10:28] I couldn't agree more with what today's author Nancy mentioned as the best plan,

[00:10:33] meaning planning your meals is one of the most powerful tools in your toolbox.

[00:10:38] Many studies have found that meal planning often leads to consuming more balanced nutritious meals.

[00:10:45] I found meal planning to be a huge stress reliever. I dread the feeling of late afternoon

[00:10:50] creeping on and I still have no idea what I'm going to eat for dinner. So in my house,

[00:10:55] we plan meals for weekdays for an entire month. We leave the weekends open,

[00:11:00] but it also makes grocery shopping way easier when we have a plan. We know exactly what to buy

[00:11:06] and when. And an added bonus is that it makes it much less likely we'll end up wasting food.

[00:11:13] Now I could go on about the benefits of meal planning, but I promise I'll stop here.

[00:11:16] I think we get the idea. Now do you have to plan every weekday meal for an entire month

[00:11:22] like me? No, of course not. But even if we plan one or two meals each week, it helps.

[00:11:28] And who knows, you might even like it. All right, that's another edition of Optimal Health Daily.

[00:11:33] Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for sharing this show with someone.

[00:11:38] I hope you're having a wonderful weekend and I'll see you back here tomorrow as usual

[00:11:42] where your Optimal Life awaits.