Birds fly south, whales migrate, and flowers bloom in a perfect symphony between nature’s rhythms and all of its life forms. Life— not to mention our digestion—is tied to these cycles that science calls circadian rhythms.267
Is it possible that the most subtle forces in nature can be the most powerful? The microbiome for example, houses trillions of microscopic bacteria that impact every function in the body.66 Today, scientists are suggesting that the circadian clock, which we cannot see or touch, could revolutionize medicine as we know it.
New science is suggesting that we have become disconnected from these cycles. Our genes, found in every cell of the body, have become unable to hear or respond to the circadian rhythms of nature.267 This will have an impact on every aspect of our health.
To evaluate your connection to these rhythms and how this affects your digestion and your health, please take this short Circadian Rhythms Quiz to help you understand how easy it is to fall out of sync with the cycles of nature.
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1. Whenever possible, do you prefer to sleep in after the sunrise? |
Yes or No |
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2. Do you wake up stiff and take a while to get going? Yes or No |
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3. Do you work through your lunch or skip lunch so you can leave work early or lose weight? |
Yes or No |
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4. Do you eat the same basic diet, more or less, throughout the year? |
Yes or No |
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5. Do you have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep? Yes or No |
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6. Do you crave snacks, even healthy ones, throughout the day? |
Yes or No |
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7. Do you regularly eat dinner after 7 p.m.? |
Yes or No |
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8. Do you get tired in the afternoon around 3–4 o’clock? |
Yes or No |
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9. Do you start your day with a cup of coffee for an energy boost? |
Yes or No |
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10. Do you have a bowel movement late in the day or sometimes skip a day? |
Yes or No |
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11. When you come home from work, are you exhausted? Yes or No |
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12. Do you get a second wind around 10 p.m. and then stay up late watching TV or get on your computer? |
Yes or No |
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13. Do you feel too tired and stiff to exercise in the morning? Yes or No |
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14. Do you feel moody or melancholy in the winter or around the holidays? |
Yes or No |
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15. Do you dread Monday mornings? |
Yes or No |
Now go back and look at the questions you answered “Yes” to. These are areas in your life where you may have a circadian clock imbalance.
In this chapter, my goal is to help create a lifestyle that can reset your circadian clock, because much more than your digestion depends on it.
Circadian rhythms are the light and dark cycles of the day that are as old as the very first cellular life forms on Earth.268, 269 Both ancient Ayurvedic wisdom and modern science agree that living and eating in sync with nature’s cycles is of utmost importance to our health, well-being, and even our longevity.267 In fact, new research is suggesting that circadian “clocks” in the skin—which line the body, sense organs, and digestive and respiratory tracts—play a vital role in human health, immunity, cellular regeneration, and digestion.267, 270
There are numerous circadian clocks in the human body that sense and deliver regulatory messages regarding everything from when foods are harvested, to when we should eat and digest them. High concentrations of our circadian clocks are found throughout the digestive system, and research is proving the importance of following the circadian cycles of nature in order to optimize our digestive strength and health.267
For example, studies reveal when people disrupt their circadian rhythms with a stressful lifestyle that disregards the body’s circadian clocks, such as frequent jet lag or late night shift work, they are more vulnerable to a variety of chronic digestive-related ailments.271
Do you indulge in late-night snack-fests? If you are in the habit of eating late at night, yet your 2-million-year-old clock is oriented to eating in the daytime, your body, its microbes, and even its genes can lose the ability to hear and sync up with nature’s circadian rhythms. Over time, this dials down digestive strength and the ability to digest foods like wheat and dairy effectively, putting you at risk for more serious health issues.272-274
Eating bigger meals for breakfast and lunch along with a lighter supper—a concept based on circadian rhythms—as opposed to eating a heavy dinner or multiple mini meals throughout the day, delivers a host of health benefits including better digestion, more balanced blood sugar and blood pressure levels, and potential weight loss.275-277
When you are out of sync with the circadian rhythms, the gut bacteria responsible for regulating digestion of wheat and dairy, stabilizing your mood, cognitive function, immunity, blood sugar, detoxification and longevity, are also compromised.271
This was profoundly demonstrated when a group of healthy individuals flew from the U.S. to Israel and back, nonstop. When they returned, their gut bugs had gone from normal to microbes typically seen in diabetes and obesity.271
In the same study, when they disabled the circadian clock in a group of healthy nocturnal mice, the mice began eating all day instead of at night. Like the human group, their microbes shifted from healthy to what is more common in obesity and diabetes.
Additionally, when the researchers transplanted some of the jet-lagged human fecal matter into a new group of healthy mice, mice began to eat nonstop during the day instead of at night, and had the same microbe disturbance as the jet-lagged human group and mice without a circadian clock.271
• Tip 1: Take time to eat a relaxing, balanced meal for lunch. If possible, make this the biggest meal of the day. Eat heavier and harder-to-digest foods like wheat and dairy during this time.
Eating a heavy meal laden with bread and dairy in the evening, when the body’s digestive clock has been turned off, may render these foods as undigested intestinal irritants and raise your blood sugar.275-277
• Tip 2: Make an effort to get to bed early and get up as close to or before the sunrise as possible. Regular sleep habits—including going to bed early and not working into the wee hours of the night—are linked to better digestion, optimal health and a longer life. Try your best to get 7–8 hours of sleep each night to stay in rhythm with the circadian clocks.278-280
Every spring, which I like to call “nature’s new year,” a new stable of microbes are established in the lining of the digestive tract.281-284 The rumen (the first chamber of the stomach) found in herbivores, such as cattle, is populated by microbes that are equipped to digest the bitter roots and fresh leaves of spring. This springtime microbial population changes so that in winter, different microbes predominate that aid in digesting the tougher wood fibers, nuts, seeds, tubers and grains; the true seasonal foods of the cold months. In turn, with the changing of the seasons, these winter microbes are once again replaced by a new population of microbes that digest the greens and emerging fruits of spring and summer.282, 284, 285
If we ate the way nature intended, a similar microbial adjustment would take place in our human digestive systems. Eating seasonally provides a subtle yet powerful shift in microbiology needed to effectively digest seasonal foods like wheat and dairy.
Let’s see what happens in nature when a deer eats out of season. Let me share a quote from the book The Forest Unseen by David George Haskell to illustrate this point:282
“If a deer is fed corn or leafy greens in the middle of winter, [out of season] its rumen will be knocked off balance, acidity will rise uncontrollably, and gases will bloat the rumen. Indigestion of this kind can be lethal.” 282
In other words, when an herbivore eats foods that are not in season, it causes a drastic shift in its microbiology, leading to severe indigestion that can actually kill the herbivore. Cows, for example, when taken from pastures and fed grain instead of seasonal grasses, have to be medicated to settle their stomachs.286
If eating foods that are not in season can kill a deer and make a cow sick,282 then perhaps this a is message for us to begin to respect the diet that has been right in front of us all these years—the diet that follows the harvests of nature!
Without a diet rich and diverse in seasonally-changing foods and microbes, our intestines are often populated by out-of-season microbes287 which prevent us from gleaning the full health and digestive benefits of syncing up with nature’s rhythms. Without the influx of seasonal microbes to boost our digestive strength and support a diverse community of essential and beneficial bacteria, we can become extremely vulnerable and often hypersensitive to our environment and foods.288
Foods like wheat, soy, nuts, seeds, and other grains are generally harvested in the fall, and offer a higher protein and fat nutrient content, which is required to help insulate for the cold winter months. The key here is in understanding that our ancestors ate foods such as gluten and dairy during the cold months, because that’s the only time when these foods are available or ripe in nature—they were never intended to be eaten year-round with every meal.
Modern research confirms what the ancient health science of Ayurveda has known for thousands of years—digestive strength gets stronger in the winter. For instance, one study found that amylase, a digestive enzyme in the body that breaks down sugar and wheat, increases in response to cold winter weather. Wheat has natural amylase inhibitors that protect the grain from digestion. Human digestion figured out a way to get around this by increasing the production of amylase during the cold winter months. A lack of amylase has been linked to wheat allergies and baker’s asthma in one study, suggesting that a portion of the wheat allergies are due to sugar intolerance rather than gluten intolerance.67 The parasympathetic vagal response—the body’s rest-and-digest nervous system response that activates and facilitates digestion—also gets a boost in cold winter months.70 Connected to the circadian rhythms, the body naturally boosts its own ability to digest the foods that are seasonally available.70
Increasing the digestive fire in the winter, according to Ayurveda, also has the effect of helping warm the body during the colder winter months. The opposite is also true. In the summer, the body is wired to help dissipate heat as a survival tool, and thus the digestive strength naturally decreases. Luckily, the summer harvest of mostly fruits and vegetables is cooked on the vine all summer by the hot sun, and thus, in a sense, are predigested and, therefore, not as much digestive fire is required. Of course, this works great if you live on a farm and are eating off the land, but if your summer diet is rich in burgers, fries, barbeque and milkshakes, your summer digestive strength may not be enough to efficiently break down these foods.
Dream a little dream with me. Imagine enjoying a meal with wheat and dairy with no unwanted side effects…
• Imagine finishing your day with the same energy you started with.
• Imagine going through your day without craving sweets, coffee, or chips.
• Imagine waking up early without an alarm, refreshed and ready to go.
• Imagine feeling like your life is not a struggle—like the wind is at your back and you are floating joyfully downstream on the river of life.
These are not pipe dreams; they are the reality of living with awareness and in connection with the cycles of nature—the benefits of syncing up with nature’s circadian rhythms is well-supported by the new science of circadian medicine.289
In nature, according to Ayurveda and similar principles in traditional Chinese medicine, there are two 12-hour cycles that are each divided into 3 smaller cycles. Each 4-hour cycle is linked to certain bodily functions governed by one of the following:
• Vata (air element), which controls the nervous system
• Pitta (fire element), which controls digestion and metabolism
• Kapha (earth and water elements), which controls immunity and structural strength
According to Ayurveda, the daily lifestyle flow that syncs the body with nature’s rhythms, and is also backed by circadian science,289 is as follows:
• 6 a.m.–10 a.m. Kapha increases, corresponding to the earth and water elements and the seasons of late winter and early spring. This is the best time for exercise and physical labor before the sun is at its peak heat. This is a heavy time of day, illustrated by the stiffness and dullness you may experience when you sleep in. This heaviness, if you are up when the sun rises, supports greater physical strength. Eat a good-sized breakfast during this time, as it not only provides you with a reliable source of fuel for the day, but it will also help reduce obesity and disease.290-293
• 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Pitta increases, corresponding to the fire element and the seasons of late spring into summer. This is the best time to relax and eat the biggest meal of the day because your digestive fire is at its strongest, hottest, and brightest in the middle of the day, just like the sun overhead at noon.294 Eating earlier in the day, including a good breakfast and lunch, has been linked to numerous health benefits, including reduced cholesterol and stress.291 Not only that, but the nutrient blueprint of the vegetables we eat is most potent at noon; a perfect nutritional gift from nature.295, 296 Around noon is also the best time to digest foods like wheat and dairy.
• 2 p.m.–6 p.m. Vata increases, corresponding to the air and ether elements and the seasons of fall and winter. This is the best time for mental and creative energy, as your nervous system is more active at this time of day. Craving sweets or caffeine at this time indicates exhaustion, blood sugar issues, poor digestion, or that you didn’t eat a sufficient lunch. Early evening is the best time for a light supper, as heavy foods do not digest well.297
• 6 p.m.–10 p.m. Kapha increases, corresponding to the earth and water elements and the seasons of late winter and early spring. This is the “heavy” time of day, cortisol levels drop, and it’s the ideal time to begin settling down for sleep.298
• 10 p.m.–2 a.m. Pitta increases, corresponding to the fire element and the seasons of late spring into summer. This is the best time to be sleeping. Both the lymph channels of the brain—and ultimately the liver—engage in detox at this time (like a janitor cleaning floors and windows). If you are constantly up and awake during this time, the body’s natural detoxification process is disturbed.5, 299
• 2 a.m.–6 a.m. Vata increases, corresponding to the air and ether elements and the seasons of fall and winter. The nervous system begins to stir before the sun rises. This is the best time to sleep deeply and naturally wake up before the sunrise.300-302 In traditional cultures, sunrise was when you started the workday and predawn was reserved for bathing, yoga, meditation and prayer.
Imagine you went to bed tonight at midnight and woke up tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. How would you feel? In my seminars, when I ask this question (barring teenagers from answering), most folks say they would feel stiff, groggy, and as if they slept too much.
Imagine the next night, you went to bed at 8 p.m. and woke up at 6 a.m. How would you feel in comparison? Most folks say without hesitation that they would feel more rested, alert, awake, flexible, and as if they got a great night’s sleep.
Surprisingly, both nights’ sleep were 10 hours each. How you feel from these 2 different nights’ sleep is not only about how much sleep you got; it’s all about when you got it. This is an example of the difference between living in sync with your circadian cycles or going against them.
With farmers’ markets, farm shares, and community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs, eating seasonally and sourcing fresh-baked sprouted and fermented breads has never been easier. Traditionally, before the industrial age, folks were forced to only eat local and seasonally; we now have a choice. This can also be our downfall. The key is to include as many fresh, organic seasonal foods into your diet as possible.
Ayurvedic medicine, however, has made seasonal eating far from austere. Ayurveda classifies all the foods from around the world into grocery lists from each of the 3 harvests in nature. There are grocery lists based on nature’s 3 primary harvests: Spring, summer and fall/winter. You can find the 3 seasonal grocery lists in my book, The 3-Season Diet,294 in Appendix A of this book, and also on my website at LifeSpa.com.
Instead of thinking about what you cannot eat in each season, think about what seasonal foods you can eat more of.
Once the digestive system is stronger, the wheat you eat is a healthy variety, the bread is not processed, and the body’s lymphatic channels are decongested, you will gain significant digestive wheat-eating strength.
A key to begin repairing your digestive power is to eat the foods that are harvested in each season and eat less of the foods not on the seasonal grocery list. Seasonal foods are nature’s prescription for optimal health. Nutrient rations change, and the microbes in the soil and on the foods we eat change from one season to the next. As a result, the body’s microbes—which make up 90 percent of the body’s cells66—are adjusting seasonally to optimize its performance.
Using the lists is easy—circle the foods you are fond of in that season, and eat more of those seasonal foods. The foods marked with an asterisk are considered the superfoods of that season, and are extra beneficial in supporting your health.
• 50 percent of the plate should be green vegetables
• 25 percent of the plate should be a protein (nuts, seeds, legumes, beans, dairy, meat and fish)
• 25 percent of the plate should be a starch (starchy root veggies like potatoes, beets, carrots, fruits, whole grains)
• As your digestion improves, the amount of food you will need will decrease and the types of foods you will choose will naturally change. Over time, try to limit the amount of animal protein you consume and replace it with plant-based proteins—all of which are naturally high in good fats. If you are a meat eater, aim to eat 10 percent of the total calories as animal meats.
• Add or cook with organic oils like ghee, coconut oil, or butter, and add organic extra virgin olive oil to the meal.
• Increase the amount of fat and protein intake during the colder winter months. This will happen naturally when you use the seasonal grocery lists.
As discussed earlier in this chapter, you can sync up with your circadian clock by eating 3 relaxing and balanced meals each day, with no snacking. Do your best to make lunch the biggest meal and eat an early, light supper.
The word supper is derived from the French word “souper,” which means soup. Supper was historically a small supplemental meal, such as a soup.
We do much better when we eat the majority of our food in the daylight hours and minimal amounts at night. While eating at night has become the norm, it wasn’t long ago that folks ate dinner at 4 and 5 o’clock. To demonstrate the risks of eating multiple meals throughout the day and night, one study compared eating just 2 meals a day, at breakfast and lunch, versus eating 6 small meals throughout the day and into the evening. The group that ate only breakfast and lunch had a significant reduction in body weight and fasting blood sugar levels, increased insulin sensitivity, and less fatty deposits in the liver. Both groups in the study ate the same amount of calories, but saw major differences in how the body responded to these 2 diets. Of course, the amount of food and the quality of food you eat does matter, but when you eat also plays a major circadian role in our health and well-being.275
I will delve deeper into the difference between eating 3 meals a day versus grazing throughout the day in Chapter 11, where I will teach you how to be a better fat burner.
There is an old saying that goes, “If you eat standing up, death looks over your shoulder.” Around the world, for as long as we have recorded history, eating has been a sacred event, until now. Today, it seems that if you are not watching TV, checking Facebook, texting, or flipping through a magazine, the meal is somehow unsatisfying. Do your best to make eating a special time of your day, and plan ahead as to where and when you will be getting your 3 balanced meals that day. Eating on the run or while stressed activates the fight-or-flight sympathetic nervous system, which literally turns off digestive function. Being relaxed and calm while you eat increases the rest-and-digest parasympathetic nervous system that turns on digestion.203
Back in the late eighties, when I co-directed Deepak Chopra’s Ayurvedic center, we had many seriously and terminally ill patients come to our clinic. They would stay for 1–2 weeks of detox and yoga, and would learn to meditate, spend time in nature, and eat gourmet Ayurvedic food.
At the end of everyone’s stay, I would always ask the same question: “What was the most important thing you learned here this week?” I always expected them to tell me how they fell in love with the Ayurvedic massages or yoga, but the one thing I heard over and over again—and remember, these were mostly cancer patients—was that they were able to sit down, relax, stop, and actually enjoy the process of eating their food. They would tell me that in their everyday lives, eating had always felt like they were fueling their car—fill it up and go.
When you are trying to digest food, it makes a huge difference if you engage the parasympathetic nervous system.203 Sitting down in a relaxed way allows the senses to smell, taste, and experience the food—all of which are linked to initiating the digestive process.
Chewing also seems to be an overrated concept for our fast-paced modern times. Meals are blended, fruits are juiced, and everything is gulped down on the run. While chewing is well-known for its benefits on digestion, few realize that chewing your food actually helps to relieve stress, boost mood, and enhance cognitive function and attention.303, 304 The process of chewing seems to relax the nervous system by activating a parasympathetic response, which is what turns on the digestive process.203 So before you inhale your next meal on the run, do your best to sit down and enjoy the process of chewing and eating your food.
Researchers have been searching for answers to the rise of obesity in America that is now reaching 1/3 of the population. Obesity is linked to what is called metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high triglyceride levels, and low HDL cholesterol levels. Many experts have blamed gluten for the rise in obesity and the increase in metabolic syndrome.
In a large study published in the journal Nutrition Research and Practice,they compared American dietary trends from 1970–2008 as they relate to obesity. Researchers saw no associated trends with wheat and dairy. They did, however, find a link between bioengineered corn that is pervasive in our food chain, often showing up as high-fructose corn syrup, and linked to rising obesity levels.305
I am sure there is a new diet trend on the horizon condemning all corn in the way wheat has been condemned. Many foods will be blamed for our food intolerances, but it is more likely the processed nature of those foods and the fact that we have overeaten them along with a weak digestion that is the true culprit.
Not surprisingly, researchers also found a correlation between rising obesity levels and lack of physical activity. I will address our epidemic lack of physical activity and its relation to lymphatic congestion and gluten-related symptoms in upcoming chapters on lymph and exercise.306
Some studies suggest that this trend could be due to the increased portion sizes. According to the American Journal of Public Health,the amount of kilocalories (kcal) per day in the U.S. has increased by 500 kcal since the 1970s. That’s almost a 25 percent increase in food consumption; very similar to the almost 33 percent obesity levels in America.307
Interestingly, Starbucks opened in 1971308 and introduced Frappuccinos® in 1995.309 America’s 2015 favorite 16 ounce Grande Frappuccino® is the Caramel Cocoa Cluster, which weighs in with a whopping 470 calories and 75 grams of sugar.310 I won’t tell you how much is in a 24 ounce Venti® size. Okay, I will… it has 590 calories and 97 grams of sugar!310
One of the most effective solutions for obesity, metabolic syndrome, and living a longer life is called “calorie restriction”—which is basically eating less.306 Wheat, in this case, is guilty as charged. It has no doubt been over-consumed, over-produced, and over-processed.
Although portion control may be difficult at first, once you begin to eat balanced meals in harmony with your circadian rhythms your digestion will improve, your body will become more efficient at burning fat and you will find you feel satisfied with less food.
I remember a patient, Sally4, who came to see me for weight gain, digestive issues, and some bouts of depression. She came in for a follow-up visit in April of that year and was complaining that she had lost her appetite. Sally said her weight was down, her mood was much better, and that she was feeling great, except all she wanted was salad. In fact, she was craving it.
After thoroughly evaluating her, I came to the conclusion that it was springtime, and the seasonal harvest is comprised of spring greens and spinach salads—she was craving exactly what she should be craving. Eating less should not be something you have to will yourself to do. It should be something that comes quite naturally when your digestion is healthy.
I had a similar experience with Danielle5, who came to see me for digestive issues. When Danielle came back in for a follow-up visit, she was clearly not happy. I first asked her about her abdominal pain, and she said that her digestion was feeling much better and that the pain was gone. She then told me that she lost her taste for coffee and she had just bought a very expensive espresso machine and now had no use for it. I reminded her that I didn’t tell her to get off coffee and that the body will naturally adjust to craving and eating what it needs once the digestion is balanced. Although her abdominal pain was gone, she was still not happy about her new distaste for coffee!
Eating less may be the most powerful digestive health tool of all, but let’s allow it to be a natural process. Back in 1935, the first paper on calorie restriction was published, which suggested that lifespans would be extended and diseases could be avoided by restricting calories without hunger or starvation.311
In the most comprehensive study on calorie restriction to date, which spanned 20 years, the results were nothing short of amazing. The study divided Rhesus monkeys into 2 groups. One group ate naturally without restraint and the other group ate a diet that was 30 percent lower in calories than the unrestricted group.312
After 20 years, 30 percent of the unrestricted diet group had died and only 13 percent of the calorie-restricted group had died from age-related illness. This translates into an almost three-fold reduction risk in age-related diseases.312
The monkeys that were calorie restricted had half the incidence of heart disease as the controls. Not one monkey in the calorie restricted group got diabetes, while 40 percent of the monkeys that ate as much as they wanted became diabetic or pre-diabetic.312
It works for humans too! When a group of adults reduced their calorie intake by only 20 percent for 2–6 years, blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and weight were all significantly improved.313
Looking at all the research, it is hard to find any other intervention that has such compelling benefits on health and longevity than eating just 20–30 percent less food. An added bonus: When food and sugar levels are low, the cells live longer and the mitochondria of the cells make more energy in the form of ATP.314, 315
We clearly have the genetics to live long and healthy without an excess of food. The key is in the kind of fuel we are burning. Sugar, not wheat, is the underlying cause of much of our current health concerns.101, 316, 317 As a result of the damaging health effects of overeating simple carbohydrates and sugar, we have lost the ability to burn fat. I will expand upon this in Chapter 11.
According to Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman, when we compare ancient humans to modern humans, ancient humans ate about 35 percent of their diet as carbs, including wheat, and we now eat around 45 percent. At first blush, not a big increase. However, for our ancestors, only 2 percent of those carbs were sugars, compared to our 30 percent! Ancient humans also ate about 100 grams of fiber per day, compared to our 15–20 grams.257 Here are some dietary strategies to start eating less, naturally:
Sugars burn fast and quickly, leaving you wanting more. That makes it difficult to reduce calorie intake by 20–30 percent if your diet includes a lot of simple carbs and sugar. Ancient humans also ate a much higher percentage of good fats. Fat is actually the body’s genetically preferred source of fuel—not sugar. One way to help cut back on the calories is to eat more good fats and reduce your intake of sugar and simple carbs (including processed breads, cooked and refined oils, dressings, chips, crackers, and sweets). Reducing sugar and refined carbs is a prerequisite before you start increasing fats.
One of my favorite ways to add healthy fats to my diet is to eat 1 teaspoon of very fresh, raw organic coconut oil with each meal, to help cut cravings. Once the cravings are gone after about a month, reduce this down to 1 teaspoon per day. I like to blend it into my hot tea every morning. This will deliver ketones (fat fuel) to the brain in minutes, and allow the brain to quickly get the message that we are full and less food is required.
I discuss beneficial fats and oils in more detail in Chapter 7.
Increasing fiber in the form of beans and veggies will also help trigger a sense of fullness, so you can more easily leave the table with 20–30 percent fewer calories. When you evaluate the centenarian cultures around the world, there is 1 food group that they eat with breakfast, lunch, and dinner that they attribute their health and longevity to—beans.
Beans are loaded with nutrition and fiber. In fact, to even come close to eating 100 grams of fiber per day like our hunter-gatherer ancestors would be almost impossible to do without beans. Beans also support healthy blood sugar, heart health, balanced weight, and much more.318-322 They are the ultimate high-fiber food.
While beans can be hard for some people to digest, there is one bean, according to Ayurveda, that is easily digestible and actually reduces gas—the split yellow mung bean. The hard-to-digest husk and anti-nutrient shell of the mung bean falls off during the splitting process. Whole mung beans have natural anti-inflammatory and anti-flatulence factors. More on these beans in Chapter 8. Once we reboot your digestion, you can move on to other types of beans.
When we are dehydrated, the signals to our brain often get translated as hunger signals, making us think we need a snack rather than reaching for the H2O. Getting plenty of plain, pure, filtered, room temperature water between meals can mitigate cravings.
In one study with 50 overweight girls, researchers instructed them to drink about 16 ounces of water, 3 times a day, half an hour before breakfast, lunch and dinner. This was over and above their normal daily water intake. After 8 weeks, they saw a significant decrease in body weight and body mass index. They concluded that water consumption increased thermogenesis and weight reduction in overweight subjects.323
• Tip 1: Drink 16 ounces of water 30 minutes before each meal.
• Tip 2: Sit down and relax during the meal.
• Tip 3: Take time to chew your food—put the fork down between bites.
• Tip 4: Eat to only 3/4 full—don’t overeat.
• Tip 5: Sip hot water with lemon with each meal, if you like.
• Tip 6: Don’t talk business when you eat.
• Tip 7: Don’t eat when you are angry or upset. It’s better to skip that meal.
• Tip 8: Do your best to eat freshly prepared, seasonal foods rather than leftovers.
• Tip 9: Sit and rest for 10 minutes after the meal or lay on your left side while digesting.
• Tip 10: Finish with a short post-meal walk.
• Tip 11: Plan ahead for your next meal.
• Tip 12: Reduce all added sweeteners and take 1 teaspoon of raw organic coconut oil each day.
• Tip 13: Aim for 50 grams of fiber in your diet each day. Make half your plate green vegetables, 25 percent starch and 25 percent protein. Eat more beans. Start with easy-to-digest split yellow mung beans.
• Tip 14: Introduce small amounts of dairy and wheat during the mid-day meal and avoid these foods in the evening at the dinner meal.*
• Tip 15: Start with raw, organic cheese and/or ancient wheat or artisan sourdough bread. More on this in Chapter 7.*
*Note: You may need to reboot digestion in Chapters 7-14 before starting wheat and dairy.
If you are under regular stress, frequently crossing time zones, or living in contrast to the body’s internal clocks and a lifestyle change is not possible at this time, consider some protective adaptogenic herbal support to help the body stay connected with the circadian rhythms to support optimal health, strong digestion, longevity, and well-being.324
Certain Ayurvedic herbs can boost digestive strength by helping to reconnect the body’s internal clocks with the natural circadian rhythms. In one study, the herb Bacopa monnieri was found to support a healthy connection to the circadian rhythms while under significant oxidative stress.325
Bacopa,325, 326 along with ashwagandha327 and turmeric,328-330 are all called brain-derived neurotrophic factors. These herbs support brain and mood function as well as the healthy regeneration of nerve cells when under stress.
It’s not just humans who are affected by the circadian rhythms—it’s every life form, including plants! As a part of the circadian cycles, every plant attracts a specific set of beneficial microbes from the soil, creating a symbiotic relationship between the plant and the microbes.285, 331 Plants seem to benefit from certain microbes, and certain microbes seem to benefit from the nutrients of certain plants.
With each seasonal shift, the microbiology of the soil changes, the chemistry of the plants change, and the microbes that attach themselves to the roots, stems and leaves of each plant shift like the changing of the guard.282, 285, 331, 332
This matters to us because when we eat foods in season, we consume seasonal nutrients and seasonal microbes that deliver seasonal benefits for the body to stay healthy in each season. Nature’s bounty is the perfect antidote to support our health in any season.
In Chapter 7, we will explore how to navigate the many choices to make regarding modern wheat and how we can still enjoy gluten products consciously, healthfully and safely.
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4 All names of patients have been changed throughout this book to protect their privacy, and all patients have given permission to share the story of their health journey in this book.
5 All names of patients have been changed throughout this book to protect their privacy, and all patients have given permission to share the story of their health journey in this book.