The power of your circadian rhythms (or what I like to refer to as your “body clock”) can’t be overstated — whether your goal is to lose weight, dodge diabetes, or ward off a cancer diagnosis down the road.
But there’s more to a balanced “body clock” than keeping a regular bedtime. Your mealtimes matter, too.
I’ve talked about this before, but once again, science has delivered crystal clear proof that when you eat is just as important to your health as what you eat.
Your suppertime can save your life
A recent study from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health reviewed data from more than 600 men with prostate cancer and more than 1,200 women with breast cancer — compared with more than 2,000 randomly selected participants.
Researchers interviewed all subjects about the timing of their meals, their sleep habits, and their chronotypes (that is, an individual’s personal biological clock, which determines whether you’re a morning person or a night owl). Subjects also reported on the degree to which their eating habits adhered to dietary recommendations for cancer prevention.
Ultimately, results from both groups suggested that leaving two hours between dinnertime and bedtime, or simply eating before 9 p.m. could literally save your life.
Either precaution correlated with a 20 percent lower risk of breast or prostate cancer — a dramatic advantage over people who ate after 10 p.m. or who hit the sheets right after scarfing down dinner.
As the first study to look at the connection between mealtime, sleep, and cancer risk, these results are a pretty big deal. Especially since current dietary cancer prevention recommendations neglect to factor in the timing of meals. (And believe me, that’s only one of many problems with these preventative guidelines… but that’s a story for another day.)
But to be honest, nothing about these results surprises me one bit. We already know that circadian disruptions — like late shift work, for example — have a particularly strong influence on breast and prostate cancer risk.
And while most people might not think to factor mealtimes into the equation, there’s no question that they have a significant effect on your overall health. As I’ve explained before, the time you eat can affect everything from weight loss to your susceptibility to sunburn.
It always pays to stick to a schedule. Because even the hour we just gained from daylight savings can throw a wrench into things over the short term.
Luckily, there’s plenty you can do to get your body’s clock back on track. I covered this topic in detail back in the March 2018 issue of my monthly newsletter, Logical Health Alternatives (“The deadly cost of a broken ‘body clock’”). Subscribers also have access to my entire archive — simply log into the Subscribers section via www.DrPescatore.com. Not a subscriber? No worries. One click is all it takes to get started.
And if you want the full scoop on my overall recommendations to stop various forms of cancer in its tracks — and even reverse it — I urge you to check out my newly released, cutting-edge Essential Protocol to a Cancer-Free Life. Click here to learn more, or sign up today.
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