3 Ways to Use Your Body Clock to Heal Your Type 2 Diabetes.

We've all heard about the circadian rhythm, which is a day/night wake sleep/cycle. We've heard a lot about that. According to Chronobiology, which is the biology of time, all our cells, our tissues and organs have their own rhythm of how they do their work. Their own rhythm and their own timing. And they're all just a little bit different.

Let me give you some examples of some rhythms in your body. Cortisol, a very important hormone, is always high in the morning. Why is that? Because we need that boost of energy to get to wake up and get up out of bed.

Our blood pressure rises more in the morning than it does other times of day. Why is that? Well, because we've been sleeping all night laying flat and when we get up and move around, we want to make sure that we have enough pressure to push blood through our system and especially up to our brain.

Our immune system is a lot stronger in the morning than it is later in the day. Why is that? Well, all through the night, our body has been working to kill off viruses and bacteria and there's cleanup going on. There are hormones and neurotransmitters that are being replenished.

So all of that is ready to go first thing in the morning.

Insulin is more active or more available during the day. Why is that? Well, because we're active during the day and we're eating during the day.  This is when insulin is needed.

At night, we have high levels of melatonin.  Melatonin is the hormone that helps us get to sleep. It also suppresses insulin levels. Why is that? We technically don't need insulin at night because we shouldn't have any carbohydrates in our bodies that need to be broken down and the energy stored.

During the day we're using energy. Insulin comes in when we eat carbohydrates and it will store some of that energy in muscle tissue, liver tissue and fat tissue. At night, that stored energy is broken down into glucose and is held in a steady state by the liver and other mechanisms. So it makes sense.

So what are the three things that we can do? The first thing is something called "time bound eating". You may have heard of this as "intermittent fasting" or "time restricted eating".

Both of those terms sound a little harsh to me. So I really like time bound eating. So what is that? Out of 24 hours a day restrict, or keep your eating to a 10 hour time span.

What would that look like? It would be like eating breakfast at eight o'clock in the morning and being completely finished with your meals by 6:00 PM when you have your last meal. So that's a 10 hour span.

Second, eat most of your calories earlier in the day. You've probably heard the saying, eat like a king or queen at breakfast, like a prince or princess at lunch and a pauper at dinner.

So why is that? Why does that make sense? Well, we're more active during the day. We need more calories in the morning to about midday, and then we don't need as much later in the day. Therefore a smaller meal at night is better for our system.

Thirdly, be consistent with this. Make it a routine. Our bodies love routine and you can see why, right?

We have a rhythm. And when we are eating at different hours or sleeping at different times, all of those things disrupt the clock, if you will. It disrupts these clock and knocks us off our pins. Your body doesn't know... where am I getting food and needing  insulin? Now? Later? What's happening?

So those three things: eating within a 10 hour window, eating most of your calories earlier in the day and doing it consistently will make a big difference.

What I found when I started doing it is I lost about eight or nine pounds. I wasn't trying. The actual food I was eating wasn't different. But by staying within that time frame, you don't really have to change your eating to lose a little bit of weight. And for people with type 2 diabetics, all it takes sometimes is a little bit of weight loss to get blood sugar into control.

So if you have any questions about your diabetes, I'm happy to talk with you about them. If you'd like sign up for a free health chat, click here.  Thank you so much for listening!

Dr. Elaine

To sign up for a health chat: https://calendly.com/drstewart/healthchat

This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the medical advice of your doctor or healthcare provider. Please consult your healthcare provider for advice about a specific medical condition.