How Long Should You Wait Between Meals?

There is a strong — but often overlooked — correlation between how long you wait between meals and blood sugar regulation. Many health-conscious people follow an exercise regimen and eat a whole food diet rich in fiber and carbohydrates from fruit, vegetables and grains that help keep blood sugar levels balanced.

However, when you eat is also a key factor in keeping blood sugar levels within a healthy range. So, how long should you wait between meals?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a normal blood sugar range, measured against the time you last ate, is between 80 and 130 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter) before a meal and less than 180 mg/dL two hours after eating. These ranges differ from person to person. Eating fiber rich foods can help support blood sugar levels within a normal range.

Your eating schedule affects your blood sugar levels, which in turn can influence your overall health, wellness and ability to lose weight. With some diets suggesting you eat six times a day and others claiming you should eat just once, it can be hard to know what's best for your body and why. Here's where to start.

How Eating and the Timing of Digestion Impact Your Body

Every time you eat, a host of metabolic processes begin to turn food into blood sugar. Cells must absorb the sugar (glucose) in the blood, which provide energy for the body to function. To support this, the pancreas releases the hormone insulin, which helps cells absorb glucose and then store the rest as glycogen in your liver and muscles for later use.

If there is excess glucose in the blood, i.e. more than the cells can absorb or need and the glycogen stores are full, additional glucose can be stored in fat cells. That's why and how high blood sugar levels can lead to weight gain — and why knowing how long to wait between meals can be important.

There are two other natural consequences of metabolism:

First, eating food results in by-products in the form of toxins known as free radicals. Free radicals cause oxidative damage by stealing electrons from cells, which can lead to higher levels of inflammation. That's why a diet rich in antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables are so important — they help protect against free radical damage and detox the body, as inflammation is often an underlying risk factor to other health issues.

Second, the energy that could be used for burning fat is diverted toward digestion. After food is digested and blood sugar returns to baseline levels, the body will tap into fat storage and burn fat cells rather than glucose.

Eating many times a day does not allow blood sugar levels enough time to return to normal, which means the body has less time to burn fat. Not just that, but the body could generate more fat because the liver is storing excess blood sugar in fat cells.

Why Leaving Time Between Meals Is a Smart Move

So, how long should you wait between meals? By leaving time between meals, even allowing yourself to feel hungry again before eating, you stall spikes in blood sugar and insulin while giving your body more time and energy to burn fat.

Generally, it takes two hours after a meal for blood sugar levels to return to normal. If you were eating every two hours, your blood sugar might always be elevated. And over time, this consistent elevation in blood sugar could lead to long-term health issues.

However, eating three meals a day allows three to four hours between meals, which gives the body time to restore its normal blood sugar levels.

Not only that, one research study conducted by the American Heart Association showed that eating at regular intervals with "mindful attention to timing and frequency" could support improved cardiovascular health and an overall healthier lifestyle.

If you are committing to positive change through healthy lifestyle choices, consider cultivating a daily regimen of habits that balance blood sugar to promote optimal functioning. Start by giving yourself plenty of time between meals, exercising and choosing foods high in fiber and complex carbohydrates. (Blog source)

Understanding Low Thyroid Symptoms

by Caitlin Beale, MS, RDN

Your thyroid, the butterfly-shaped gland found at the base of your neck, is the body's metabolic master. It helps regulate every process in the body — from the number of calories you burn to your internal thermometer, heart rate, and even your digestive tract. So when it isn't working optimally, your body will start to send signals that something is off.

What Are Common Low Thyroid Symptoms?

An under active thyroid is very common, affecting nearly five out of every hundred people in the U.S., with women being more likely to be diagnosed than men.

There are a number of key hormones involved in thyroid function. Your hypothalamus in the brain releases thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), which tells your thyroid gland to make Thyroxine (T4). Triiodothyronine (T3) is also produced by the thyroid gland, but in much lower amounts than T4. Because T3 is the active form, and mostly what the body uses metabolically, an important conversion process that converts T4 into active T3 needs to happen.

Thyroid symptoms occur when these hormones are no longer at optimal levels. A common reason for an imbalance can be linked to the body not being able to convert the hormone into its active usable form (T3), or that thyroid receptors become resistant to the hormones, affecting the signaling pathways.

Without our master metabolism regulator working well, everything slows down, causing symptoms like:

• Moodiness and irritability

• Weight gain, or difficulty keeping weight off

• Cloudy thinking

• Constipation

• Sleep issues

• Higher cholesterol levels

• Hair thinning

• Fatigue

• Dry skin

• Fertility issues

What Are Possible Causes of Low Thyroid?

The problem is that many low thyroid symptoms are subtle, making them easy to overlook. It's often not until symptoms start to compound that you realize something is off. Unfortunately, this delay also allows for certain lifestyle factors that could be causing the issue to go unaddressed.

So what are the possible root causes? While every person's experience is different, low thyroid function can be caused by a range of factors from nutrient deficiencies and increased stress to poor gut health. Unresolved issues in the gut are one of the most common issues that can impact the thyroid. This is because approximately 80% of the immune system resides in the gut, and gut bacteria play a key role in converting T4 into T3.

Deficiencies in the diet — from micronutrients to antioxidants — can also be a reason for a sluggish thyroid. Certain nutrients like iodine and iron are necessary for optimal thyroid health and hormone production. These deficiencies can be related to food choices and can be further compounded by poor gut health.

Lifestyle Factors to Address Low Thyroid

Fortunately, lifestyle changes can reduce symptoms and help bring your body back to a state of balance.

As a first step, you can start to rebalance your hormones with thyroid supporting foods such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, dark leafy vegetables, mushrooms, lima beans, and certain types of wild caught seafood. These foods and more provide key sources of thyroid supportive minerals such as iodine and selenium.

Next, it's essential to understand your lab values. By doing a Functional Medicine lab test at home, you can look at exactly where you stand when it comes to the key hormones that impact stress, mood and metabolism. Based on these results, you can address hormone imbalances that may be interfering with your body's ability to achieve optimal thyroid levels.

If you feel overwhelmed or are not sure where to start, a comprehensive educational program that outlines and explains all aspects of thyroid health can help give you the confidence you need to understand the reasons behind any imbalance and empower you to take control over your body and your health. (Blog source)

When you’re ready to take the next step, schedule your complimentary call so you can finally uncover the root causes to your symptoms!

Do You Really have a Slow Metabolism?

by Joanna Foley, RD, CLT

You've probably heard that eating less and moving more is all it takes to lose weight. Therefore, you may be surprised to hear that following that method can actually have the opposite effect on your weight and can lead to a slow metabolism.

What you eat plays a large role in how you look and feel, but achieving a healthy body weight is about much more than food and exercise. This article will help explain exactly what your metabolism is, the factors that influence it, and what you can do to promote a healthy metabolism and a healthy weight.

What Is Metabolism?

The term metabolism refers to all the processes that go on inside your body to keep you alive and your organs functioning normally. In addition to things like repairing cells, it is in charge of converting the calories you consume from food and beverages into energy. A healthy metabolism is required to use this energy efficiently and plays a role in your ability to lose, maintain and gain weight.

What Causes a Slow Metabolism?

Factors such as age, body size, gender, genetics, and the amount of muscle mass can all influence the speed of your metabolism. Yet many other things can influence your metabolism as well.

Lesser-known factors that contribute to a slower metabolism include:

• Significant calorie restriction and "yo-yo dieting." Fad diets that promise quick results can be tempting to follow. However, years of going on and off diets, and thus losing weight in an unsustainable way, negatively affects your metabolism and can have the opposite effect than you desired. Drastically reducing calories can cause your body to think you are starving. As a protective mechanism, your metabolism will slow down, making it harder to keep losing weight even on fewer calories.

• Metabolic and toxic imbalances. persistent levels of high stress and an accumulation of toxin exposure can alter your hormones, increase levels of inflammation in your body and interfere with your body's ability to burn calories efficiently. These imbalances are often the hidden root cause of many health ailments, including an undesirable metabolism.

If you suspect you have a slow metabolism, you can run a simple at-home lab test to help identify any possible imbalances. Then working alongside a qualified practitioner you can implement the appropriate diet and lifestyle strategy you need.

How Do You Know if You Have a Slow Metabolism?

It's common to think that weight gain or difficulty losing weight are the only signs of slow metabolism, but there are other common signs and symptoms that may be involved as well, such as:

• Low energy and extreme tiredness

• Cold intolerance

• Irregular bowel movements

• Low mood

How Can You Boost Your Metabolism?

Supporting a healthy metabolism requires a whole-body approach. Here are some things to focus on:

• Focus on your diet. Unhealthy levels of inflammation are often an underlying root cause of slow metabolism and weight gain or the ability to lose weight and keep it off. That's why it is important to prioritize the majority of your diet from anti-inflammatory whole foods. Examples include olive oil, tomatoes, nuts and seeds, leafy greens, oily fish and berries. In addition, taking supportive daily nutritional supplements, can help replenish your nutrient reserves, support natural detoxification, and rebalance your body at the deepest level.

• Balance your blood sugar. Having high levels of blood sugar from eating too many processed carbohydrates and sugar can lead to persistently high levels of insulin in your body. Since insulin promotes the storage of fat, this can lead to weight gain if elevated levels of blood sugar aren't cleared efficiently.. You can help balance your blood sugar by including enough protein and healthy fats in each meal and snack, eating three balanced meals works best for most throughout the day, choosing whole-food carbohydrates high in fiber, reducing your intake of processed sugar and being physically active.

• Balance your hormones. Your hormones are a key player in nearly every process in your body. Balancing your hormones can help support a healthy metabolism overall. The best way to uncover any possible hormone imbalances that might be impacting your ability to lose weight is through testing your individual levels. A qualified healthcare practitioner can then help interpret your results and guide you through a strategy right for you.

• Consider reverse dieting. This is the concept of gradually eating more, not less over a period of time to increase your body's ability to burn calories. Contrary to common belief, this can actually help speed up your metabolism and lead to weight loss if your metabolism has slowed down due to prolonged calorie restriction, long-term low carb diets, or other factors. The key is to eat the right amount of food and type of food to support your body's energy requirements in the context of an overall healthy lifestyle to restore hormone balance and support a healthy metabolism.

• Be active, but don't overdo it. There are so many benefits to exercise, and we all should strive to move our bodies every day. However, this doesn't mean putting in long hours at the gym or participating in overly strenuous forms of exercise. Too much exercise, or workouts that are too intense, can be a source of stress on your body, especially if you are already in an imbalanced state. It's best to choose a variety of workouts you enjoy so you are more likely to stick to them. Remember that little movements add up, so simply being more intentional to move your body more often can make a big difference in your metabolism and overall physical health.

Bottom Line

There may be more behind a perceived slow metabolism than you realize. Focusing on your diet, hormones, exposure to toxins, and level of activity are all effective ways to help rebalance your body and improve your metabolism. (Blog source)

Eventually, you’ll get frustrated with conventional methods of trying to lose weight. If you’re ready to uncover the root causes of your slow metabolism and drop the weight for good, click here to schedule your complimentary consultation.