Health Coaching Corner– by Golden Road Medicine Health Coach Rhonda Lee, FMCA
It is very IMPORTANT to fast at least 3 hours before bed.
One of the simplest, yet for many, most difficult lifestyle habits in the Ketoflex 12/3 diet, is the “3”, which represents not eating anything during the 3 hours before bed. (The 12 represents the minimum time one should fast each day.)
It sounds easy enough, but in reality, it is quite difficult, even for me. I had gotten used to eating a snack an hour or two before bed, thinking that as long as I ate something “healthy” it wouldn’t matter. However, this is not the case.
In his latest book, KetoFast, Dr. Joseph Mercola, shares this importance based on the scientific research of Dr. Satchin Panda, a researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, Ca.
According to Dr. Panda, your body organs require 12 or more hours of rest for optimal functioning, even those of digestion. He said, “Just like you cannot repair a highway when the traffic is still flowing, you cannot completely repair your gut if you keep on eating into your rest time.”
His research shows that healthy food, at the wrong time, can be as detrimental as eating poor quality food.
Another excuse I come up with for eating a nighttime snack is that I am still hungry. If I look at the foods I have eaten during the day, I can usually find the culprit. I find that if I have eaten something off-plan (sugar, high carb, etc), I become hungrier later, likely because my body switched back to using glucose for energy, rather than ketones.
Did I eat enough fat to satiates my hunger? Did I eat 6-9 cups of vegetables? Also, I may actually be thirsty rather than hungry. How much water did I drink today?
Here’s what helps if you struggle with not eating for 3 hours prior to bed:
- Write down what you eat each day, and what time you ate it.
- Keep track of water intake- you need at LEAST half your body weight in ounces every day.
- Drink a few sips of water anytime you are feeling hungry.
- Brush your teeth after the last meal of the day – this signals your body you are done eating for the day. Plus, you think about the effort in having to do it again when you are tempted to eat 😉
You don’t have to be perfect every day, but the more of the time you follow the protocol better brain and overall health will most likely result.
