How to Biohack your Nutrition.
As we have discussed in previous weeks, biohacking is the latest buzzword in the Health & Wellness industry.
It is a way for people to take control of their body through science and self-experimentation to increase energy, balance hormone function and battle ageing on a cellular level.
For me, it is about implementing sustainable lifestyle changes through how and what I eat along with movement, rest and mindset.
My four pillars of health and wellness.
Biohacking WHEN not WHAT you eat
While Intermittent Fasting is seen as a restrictive diet, I am very interested in Time Restricted Eating (TRE) and the science behind it.
TRE works on the idea of having a window of a minimum of 8 hours and a maximum of 16 hours where you don’t eat or drink anything other than water.
In your eating window, you do not restrict calories, you listen to your body and eat what you need.
This gives the body a chance to rest, recover and repair.
The science behind this comes from the organs in our body having different wake and sleep cycles.
For instance, the pancreas uses the hormone insulin to break down sugar for energy, along with other hormones which control appetite and stomach emptying.
Enzymes such as Lipase, Protease and Amylase help break down macronutrients (Fat, Protein &. Carbohydrates) for digestion.
If we eat after our pancreas has gone to sleep, food can sit in our stomach undigested causing poor sleep, indigestion and not allow essential nutrients to be absorbed.
You can therefore use TRE to hack your biology and make the most out of the food you eat and the energy you create.
Try stopping eating as early in the evening as is possible for you and your routine, preferably at least 3 hours before you go to sleep.
If you choose to stop eating at 7 pm and if you then took your first bite (this includes your cup of caffeine) the next morning at 7 am you have let your body rest for 12 hours, don’t eat until 9 am and you’ve easily achieved 14 hours.
If you want to make the fasting window longer you can adjust based on your schedule.
Biohacking your gut flora
When your digestive system is sluggish or grumbling it has a direct effect on how you feel.
Did you know that our digestive lining renews every 72 hours.
The trouble is many of us don’t give our digestive tract the chance to recover. It is constantly bombarded with food and environmental toxins.
We are what we eat.
More accurately, we are what we absorb so we could be eating an array of nutritious foods, moving our body and sleeping well but if our gut is out of balance we can still feel crap.
Increasing your intake of probiotic foods to build the population of friendly bacteria can be done by including foods such as:
- Kimchi
- Kombucha
- Kefir
Alternatively you could take a good bio-available supplement.
You mustn’t stop there though.
These friendly bacteria need to be fed with whole foods, high in fibre and low in added sugars, whole fruit isn’t to be avoided.
Time Restricted Eating is a great way to give your gut a rest and allow it to heal.
Biohack Nutrition Intuitively
I teach my clients Intuitive Eating and Intuitive Living.
By understanding what our body needs we can make food choices that support us.
We can use food to balance our hormones and manage symptoms associated with our cycle whether that is PMS or menopause.
Try keeping a journal, it doesn’t have to be a dear diary, just jot down where you are in your cycle (if you have one, you can always use the moon cycle as guide if you don’t) and how you feel.
You can go as far as noting what you ate through the day and how your mood and energy felt after these.
Honour your hunger, don’t deny yourself nourishment if you are hungry, this affects hormone production massively!
Make sure what you are eating is satisfying.
Eating food that looks and tastes good, has a range of textures and satisfies your need for sweet or salty, sour or bitter will ensure you are getting a good variety of nutrients and will stop you hunting for ‘something’ after or later to satisfy a craving.
This is a more long term ‘hack’.
Living and eating intuitively is a process, especially if you have been brought up with diet culture, as many of us have.
It is however the most freeing experience I have had in life and I am always excited to help others find this freedom too.
Biohack Nutrition with Supplements
Those of you who know my story know that I found my path to becoming a nutrition coach through my network marketing business Forever Living Products.
While I do use and share a variety of these products, because my family and I have found great health benefits from items such as Aloe drinking gel, probiotics, multi vitamins and bee propolis to name a few.
I was always more fascinated by the nutrients available in our food and how by paying a little more attention to what we eat, can have a massive impact on our overall wellbeing.
However, there are other ingredients we can supplement our diet with to hack our:
- Energy
- Sleep
- Metabolism
- Hormone balance
- Mental health
A few of these include:
- Caffeine
- Green tea
- L’arginine
- Vitamin D
- Adaptogenic herbs
Adaptogens have been around for centuries to support health and wellbeing.
These herbs are an excellent choice to manage hormone related symptoms such as sleep issues, fatigue, brain fog and hot flushes as the effects are gentle and without side effects.
They are best used for short periods of time and interchanged with others depending on the support you need at a particular time.
This is where tracking your cycle, your moods, cravings and general wellbeing can be beneficial, that way you can balance your needs.
You can read more about Adaptogens for menopause in THIS BLOG POST
In Conclusion
Giving your body a rest from digesting food through the day and for longer periods overnight, improving your gut health, learning how to tune into your individual needs and using natural supplements to support these needs along the way, will put you on the right path to good health, abundant energy and finding the weight your body is at peace at.
If you would like to chat about this further and find our how I can be your BFF on this journey, book at virtual cuppa and a chat with me through this link.