Two things I have tried in 2016

I thought I’d let you know about two things that I’ve tried in 2016, why and how I’ve got on with them...

Extending the overnight fast

All humans fast every day. The only question is: how long do we fast for?

Usually we fast while asleep and in between meals. Fasting between meals has become less common. Our three meal a day pattern has become breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, graze all evening – indeed the snacking has been encouraged by public health advisers, which is quite astonishing given the health of our nations.

Fasting overnight has also become shorter. My father was usually home for a 6pm dinner with the family (my mother was home at 4pm as a teacher close to home) and then both of them would go out many evenings doing hobbies (singing, squash, hockey, bridge – they were both into all sorts.)

Most people today work far longer hours than my parents did and have virtually no hobbies as a result. Today’s typical worker is up before 7am, commutes for approximately an hour, arrives at the office well before 9am, works through lunch and often doesn’t get home until after 7pm. By the time any children are put to bed, there’s time for an 8pm dinner, then screen time (TV, ipad, phone, computer) and then a disturbed sleep because of late eating and screen light stimulating wakefulness. The current overnight fast may be as short as midnight to 6am for some people. A few (insomniacs) break even this with something at 4am if they are struggling to sleep.

As type 2 diabetes continues to grow at rates capable of bringing national health services to collapse, we know that carbohydrate intake is critical to avoid this serious condition. There are two aspects to food intake, however – what we eat and how often we eat. Followers of The Harcombe Diet® know all about the ‘what we eat’ and the three meal a day part of how often we eat. Extending the overnight fast is another tool in the ‘how often we eat’ strategy to avoid type 2 diabetes...