Why Time Restricted Eating Works

Two weeks ago, Trip Longer stumbled across a super intriguing video interview between Joe Rogan and Dr. Rhonda Patrick on the topic of Time Restricted Eating.

If you’re unfamiliar with Dr. Rhonda Patrick, allow me. She has a Ph. D in biomedical science, is an expert in nutrition, cancer and aging and she’s downright brilliant. Her podcasts (on her own site and JRE) have practical, easy-to-implement, science-supported ideas that I find to be financially accessible and hugely beneficial to optimizing my health and well-being, often leading to peak performance and personal breakthroughs. In short, she’s a gem.

WHAT IS TIME RESTRICTED EATING/FEEDING?
I wish there was a better name for it, but the concept of Time Restricted Eating/Feeding (TRE) is brilliant. Not unlike Intermittent Fasting (IF), the idea is that humans should constrain the window of time in which we eat to no longer than 12 hours per day, with an ideal balance looking more like an 8 – 10 hour window.

BUT WHY?
As Dr. Rhonda explains, when we get up in the morning and ingest our first item of food or drink (besides water and yes, this means black coffee) we trigger the 12 hour clock in which our metabolic enzymes work their magic. Metabolic enzymes are responsible for running our entire bodies on a blood, tissue and organ level. They are required to build new cells while keeping the current cells clean and healthy, they also repair and maintain all of the bodies tissues and organs and yes, help control our metabolism. We create them internally and they are pretty fucking important.

Once their 12 hour clock is up, the metabolic enzymes are off duty for the night and they like it that way. If you try to push them to work overtime, by eating outside of this 12 hour window, they, like humans, don’t work as efficiently, they start shutting down and wreaking havoc on your body, your mood and your metabolism causing you to gain more fat, become more insulin insensitive and lethargic, all while depleting your muscle mass. Yes, all of this by eating and drinking outside this 12 hour window.

So, besides avoiding those bummers . . .

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF TRE?

First off, if you want the most optimal results, it’s best to choose a healthy, well-balanced diet when you do eat. Which means a real, whole foods diet of vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, quality meats and proteins, healthy oils and healthy fats and avoiding trans fats and refined/processed sugars (especially in conjunction with one another).

Studies have now shown that eating well AND within the time restricted diet can mean:

Reducing your chance of cancer and metabolic disease
Increasing your muscle mass (without having to work out)
Decreasing body fat
Increasing energy and endurance
Better appetite control
Reduced inflammation
Enhanced detoxification
Improved brain function
Better muscle recovery after workouts
Heightened immunity
Dr. Rhonda explains that studies have found in mice that they can cheat two days per week while still enjoying the benefits of eating within the TRE the other five days, but this has yet to be proven in humans. You can join the ongoing trial of scientific research by downloading the mycircadianclock APP and partaking in the study.

HOW WE IMPLEMENTED TIME RESTRICTED EATING
Matt and I have been practicing some forms of IF for the past year (read about where it started here) and at first, we thought for sure that we had been eating within the 12 hour window regularly. As it turns out, we were not.

So, two weeks ago, we started implementing the 10 hour window and the results have been amazing. Within two or three days, we both noticed an increase in our endurance during the morning trails runs and Matt noticed a heightened cognitive clarity that began much earlier in the day. For the past four years I’ve had sinus issues that include incessant sneezing in the morning and evenings and the worst post nasal drip you can imagine, lots of sniffling and nose blowing, even in the summer, in fact, it’s been driving me fucking mental! Within the first week of time restricted eating, it was gone.

After two weeks, we both report more energy, better endurance, increased cognitive clarity, healthier bowel movements and more good vibes. Success!

I’ve included a little break down of what our routine looks like right now:

1. We get up around 7AM (on most days)

2. Drink one 8 OZ black coffee with 1 TBSP of MCT oil & a cannabis infusion around 8:30AM
   (remember, even a HERBAL tea or BLACK cup of coffee will begin your bodies metabolic enzymes)

3. Leave for our cannabis infused run/bike ride (minimum 2 km but usually run 5 – 10 or bike 10 – 15km) at 9AM

4. Return & eat the biggest meal of the day around 12PM (usually three free run eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, two pieces of Kaslo Sourdough Toast, one cup yambrowns)

5. Small afternoon snack around 3PM (fruit/veggies/cheese/yogurt)

6. Have dinner by 6PM (usually a meat & vegetable salad, stir-fry, stew, etc with quinoa and a few small pieces of dark chocolate)

FOOD HACKING

I honestly feel like this is food hacking, health hacking, life hacking, one of the smartest, easiest, cheapest, most accessible way for us humans to prevent a myriad of different health issues like heart disease, cancer, dementia and obesity while bolstering the health and well-being that we already posses. We’d be crazy not to!

We’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below.

Stay Rad,

Trip Longer