Eating Late Not So Good for Your Weight

Back in 2005, I wrote an article describing a simple principle I had discovered about the timing of meals. Actually, it's not quite right for me to take credit for "discovering" it. This simple principle is based on the Yin/Yang concept from Traditional Chinese Medicine. I called it, at the time, "The Sun-Cycle Diet", and it is way of eating that aligns the complexity, quantity, and time of our meals with the movement of the sun through the day.

One of the KEY principles of this diet is to not eat a large meal after dark. Hence, the smallest, simplest meal of the day on this diet is dinner. This is the exact opposite of the way most people eat. Most of us eat very little to nothing for breakfast, and dinner is the big blowout meal of the day.

Well, some recent research is "proving" that I was onto something with my idea 5 years ago. Again, I'm not taking credit for this idea, for it is founded on the holistic principles of Chinese Medicine. However, I will say that nobody ever taught me this in school, and I didn't read it anywhere. I just did my best to use my common sense and come up with a way of eating that followed the Yin/Yang principles I had learned in my training.

The research points out a simple fact: Mammals (the experiment was done on mice) that are exposed to light at night gain more weight, even eating the same amounts of food. However, the mice who were exposed to light at night also tended to eat MORE if allowed to. This compounded the problem of weight gain.

Explaining this is simple from a Yin/Yang perspective. Our bodies are absolutely, irrevocably "in tune" with the Sun/Moon cycle of day and night. Our brains perceive when it is daytime, and a hormonal cascade is initiated that supports wakefulness, activity, and work. The same subtle perception of night and darkness leads to a hormonal cascade that brings rest, rejuvenation, and tissue repair.

No matter what we do, we cannot escape this evolutionary feature of our bodies. Whether we use artificial light or not, our brains "know" it is night. It is beyond just "seeing" the light. It is a perception of radiation, heat, and sun energy. So, at night our metabolism slows down as our bodies prepare for rest and recuperation, whether we are at a club, in front of the TV, at a party, in a lit building, etc...

And, it is then that most people pile the biggest, most complex meal of the day onto their waning metabolic fire. The result? Unused calories, toxic byproducts of half-metabolized foods, and increasing weight. Over the long-term this leads to all of the chronic, congestive diseases that are so rampant in our world today.

You can read my article here:
http://www.axelradclinic.com/Sites/a/Pages/Learn/Articles/Articles.aspx?article=Sun-Cycle-Diet

And the research I am referring to is here:
http://news.discovery.com/human/light-obesity-weight-gain.html

Chris Axelrad, M.S.O.M., L. Ac., FABORM, director of the Axelrad Clinic for Natural Women's Healthcare, is a recognized expert in women's health, natural treatment of hormone imbalance, and fertility enhancement using Traditional Chinese Medicine integrated with conventional medical knowledge. He is known for his easy-going manner and sincere compassion for his patients. Mr. Axelrad provides coaching and support to patients across the country via his remote treatment programs, and he also maintains a busy full-time specialty clinical practice in Houston, TX. Visit the clinic website to schedule your free 30-minute initial consultation.