Circadian Rhythm Fasting for Lyme Disease Recovery: Why I Fast 16 Hours a Day
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Circadian rhythm fasting and intermittent fasting has been a huge game-changer for me and my healing journey with late-stage Lyme. So today I'm actually diving into an older blog that I wrote to just kind of touch base on some of the research I did, and share my experiences.
If you're interested in learning all about it and finding my resources, go ahead and read that blog, it is linked in the description below.
Fasting has kind of become a big buzzword around the wellness community, and there are all different kinds of fasting you can juice fast, liquid fast, dry fast, there are all different kinds- long term fast, short term fast, intermittent fasting, and circadian rhythm fasting. So today I'm just gonna be talking about this my experiences with circadian rhythm fasting, or also referred to as time-restricted eating.
The idea behind this is that we are just honoring that natural 24-hour rhythm that our body has. Not only is our brain on this cycle is 24-hour cycle, but every single cell in our body is working on a 24-hour circadian rhythm cycle.
So, the idea behind circadian rhythm fasting is that you are restricting your eating to the times when your digestive juices are highest and your body is in optimal time to really digest those nutrients that you put in. Now I found this completely on my own. I've had doctors telling me things like eat a handful of nuts before bed and like drink lemon water right when you wake up! If you don't know my story I'll link it above but essentially I was having the worst digestive issues. I had developed a bleeding ulcer, SIBO, chronic diarrhea, bloating, pain all of that, nausea, vomiting… just all the things with my late-stage Lyme disease. My doctors just really were not able to support me in healing from.
I found Dr. Rhonda Patrick several years ago, she founded Found my Fitness, and that is such a wonderful blog and YouTube channel as well if you're interested in learning more about self-healing. I highly recommend following her because she has just introduced me to so many things and this time-restricted eating has been the most beneficial thing I've done.
When I first got started, I was a little bit hesitant to try because every time a doctor ordered me to do a fast like for a diagnostic test or whatever, like you’ve got to fast for 24 hours I always seemed to struggle. I always felt like my blood pressure or like blood sugar or something was off because I would feel really shaky and weak, just not feeling good at all. So when I started doing this circadian rhythm fasting I really started super super slow.
Dr. Rhonda Patrick has interviewed so many different experts and she's really come to the conclusion that fasting for 16 hours a day, limiting your, your eating schedule to about eight hours a day is the most optimal. So that's where I'm at right now, I fast 16 hours a day, and I restrict my eating to just an eight-hour window when my digestive juices are highest.
So as you begin to weed down your eating time to an eight hour or 10-hour window you may feel hungry outside of those times, and it's totally normal, it's not going to kill you. You just have to, like, kind of retrain your body.
Once I started the circadian rhythm fasting I really started slow so I would just give myself about two hours before bed to digest and then two hours in the morning, and then I'd have my smoothie or whatever in the mornings and slowly over time I've extended that to about four hours in the morning where I don't have anything besides water, and then four hours before bed, I don't have anything besides water.
This not only allows my body to digest things before I go to sleep but it really allows you to when you are sleeping, it allows your body to really replenish rest and recharge without having to worry about all this undigested food inside your gut.
I always recommend listening to your own body, if you've got blood sugar issues and it's just feeling icky for you start super slow, and make sure that you are staying nice and hydrated. I've read multiple studies, saying that our thirst sensation is often mistaken for hunger, so a lot of us are in chronic dehydration - we're not drinking enough water! So if you're feeling hunger pains, try drinking a full glass of water.
Know that life may get in the way, you know sometimes if there's like a late night dinner or like something was going on during the day, I may not be able to eat on time. I do things imperfectly sometimes and the important thing is to not beat yourself up over it.
So really that's all there is to it! Just try to give yourself those hours to digest in the evenings before bed and allow your digestive juices to start flowing before you eat in the mornings or afternoons. Adjust the schedule for your body. Everybody's body is different so do what feels good to you, my circadian rhythm fast may look completely different than yours and that's fine.
Just experiment with it and try it out. Let me know if you do give it a try in the comments, or if you've been doing this in your healing journey, I'd love to hear your experiences.
It really has been so so profound in my healing journey, and it's completely free. In fact, I think it's saved me money in the long run! So I invite you to give this a go and let me know in the comments if you try it. And, or if you've tried it and didn't like it, let me know about that too! I'm interested to know, because this really has helped me so, so much with my digestive health, and just managing the inflammation and symptoms that come along with late stage Lyme disease.
So give it a go, let me know and please hit subscribe, give me that thumbs up if you enjoyed this video, I will be back next week with another video so until then keep healing!
Learn more about this topic in my fully referenced blog: https://jennhyla.com/blog/2019/12/13/circadian-rhythm-fasting-for-lyme-why-i-fast-16-hours-a-day
Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor and the CDC has not approved of these statements. All views are reflective of my personal research and experience and are not reflective of any brand that I may be affiliated with or that are mentioned in this work. This work should not be taken in lieu of medical advice. I do not claim to diagnose, treat, or cure any illness. This description may contain affiliate links.