Time restricted eating for better health

In my day-to-day practice, I encounter numerous patients who suffer from brain stroke leading to early disability which profoundly limits their life. My heart wrenches when I see a young aspiring human being in a wheelchair not being able to do what a normal person can. As we are advancing in future technologies, I feel we are lagging behind in taking care of ourselves and focusing on our longevity. More younger people are suffering from chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiac arrest and brain stroke leading to lifelong disability with huge burden on their loved ones. I often think to myself about the reasons that can affect young people to suffer from such lifelong diseases. I am also astounded by how people just want to pop prescription pills instead of questioning why it’s happening to them, and for how long this type of unawakening will go on. As a practising doctor, I believe in exploring the root cause of every disease. As a surgeon, I have to intervene when there is irreversible damage. But as a human being, I am compelled to question why people choose to suffer illnesses and die young. Why are people so accepting of chronic illness, going on medications and so forth? Diabetes, hypertension, autoimmune diseases like issues with thyroid, and obesity are commonplace today. How do we make people aware of taking care of themselves and taking the path to longevity? I have come to realise that awareness alone isn’t enough, you have to love yourself and be consistent in your endeavour to achieve optimal health. Let me start by illustrating an example of how living beings can heal their body with little effort. Have you heard of “Time restricted eating”? Please do not confuse this with intermittent fasting or keto diet or vegan diet or paleo diet etc. I have for the past five years practised time-restricted eating, I have reversed my thyroid disease, ageing process and increased my physical and mental strength with time-restricted eating. It’s amazing how you can just start with a simple step to revise early diabetes or early hypertension. Our body has the capacity to regenerate itself but it needs to rest for at least 12 to 16 hours without food. There are numerous scientific articles to back up these findings in humans. When we eat, there is a constant increase in the level of hormones called insulin. As long as this hormone is working in our body, it’s difficult for it to regenerate and repair. It’s like constantly toasting our body until it's completely toasted. What time-restricted eating does is when you are not having any food or drink, it prevents an increase in the level of insulin, and other chemicals are produced in our body to repair the system and increase the collagen activity to reverse our ageing process. This way you not only reverse your ageing from outside but also within. Imagine using Botox for your immerging fine lines and fillers to look younger which only helps you to hide your age but not reverse it. If you are ready to invest and go through so much pain with needles, why not start the simplest step like time-restricted eating? Once you have set up your mind for this step, start with at least 12 to 16 hours of not eating any solid food or taking sugary drinks. For example, if you stop having dinner by 8 pm, the next day take your brunch at 12 noon so that you get 16 hours of healing and repair time window. To facilitate the system to repair during fasting period, some drinks like apple cider vinegar or lemon water, black ground coffee, etc. can help. This way the Hormone called insulin will not be at work for 16 hours meaning your body can rest and regenerate. The major habit that we see in our country is starting a day with sugary milk tea and continuing to have it throughout the day, some even have 7-10 cups a day. Imagine what this amount of sugar can do to your system. How long will this habit last? Until we are diagnosed with high blood sugar level, then we rush to pop in the pills. By simply starting time-restricted eating and limiting three white things in your food, you can significantly reduce belly fat and the diagnosis of chronic diseases i.e., white refined sugar, white refined flour and white processed rice. I advise you to have your regular meal during the feeding time without decreasing calorie intake but obviously limiting the three white things in your diet. The first two weeks will be quite difficult to be consistent, but you will be reenergized and find a better version of yourself and I bet you will want to continue doing this for life. Create a reward day like Saturday and Wednesday (two days a week) to enjoy your usual routine of having breakfast and the food you want. Note that time-restricted eating is not recommended for persons who are already diabetic and under medication or insulin injections. READ ALSO: 

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