Last week I introduced you to a new eating pattern. A system of eating frequently enough, with the right timing and right foods offered, that will help you get in front of your cravings, hunger and energy dips. What you eat and how often you eat has everything to do with the health choices that you make each and every day.If you are following along with the recommended meal and snack timing, then you are eating dinner close to 6PM and you are refraining from eating after dinner. This timing sets up a nightly ‘Mini Fast.’

A mini fast is a 12-16 hour mini fast each evening (post dinner to breakfast the next day). Besides giving your body, liver and digestive system a much deserved rest, several studies have shown that mini-fasts have a protective effect on brain cells and can actually improve memory in patients with mild cognitive disorder.

Shifting your food intake away from bedtime, also allows you more time to digest your food and this improves your sleep quality.

MIGRATING MOTOR COMPLEX

Another perk, the migrating motor complex gets to do its job. This complex triggers peristaltic waves. These are waves of activity that sweep through the intestines. These waves facilitate transportation of indigestible substances from the stomach, through the small intestine, past the ileocecal sphincter, and into the colon.

This this sweeping motion, is an important process in the digestive track.  The migrating motor complex is only active during a fasting state.

When the body is under chronic stress, resources are diverted away from digestion. Your body will make less saliva, digestive enzymes, hydrochloric acid, it will provide less fluid in the digestive track, which helps to support every aspect of the digestion. When you add to this, eating well into the evening, you will inhibit your migrating motor complex in addition to having sub-optimal digestion due to stress. This sets the stage for numerous digestive symptoms and conditions.

ACTION STEP: Your goal is to include a mini fast as many evenings as possible. If you finish dinner by 7PM and eat breakfast after 7AM, then this is a 12 hour mini fast.