I’m going to share a secret with you about how to improve your health. It is a very simple idea. It is also very powerful. Following this secret will give you increased energy, more muscle tone, more mental
focus, and host of other benefits. It will keep your hormones more in balance and it will definitely help balance your blood sugar. The secret is that human beings are designed to graze on food all day long. In other words, we should never skip meals!
In order to understand why we should always eat every 2-3 hours, we need to remember where we came from. Our ancestors walking through a forest would come across a strawberry patch or a blueberry bush. They may not “feel hungry” at that moment. They may have eaten two or three hours ago. But our ancestors aren’t stupid. They know that if they skip eating these fresh fruits in front of them that someone or something else will. They also know that the fruit will only be ripe and edible for a short time, maybe just two weeks. So our ancestors ate their fill of this food. Then they continued on their merry way…
Now in our modern world we have all sorts of luxuries and we can eat strawberries and blueberries all year round if we choose. But living in a modern world doesn’t change our basic nature. We are grazers and our bodies are designed to eat small meals throughout the day. Many people ignore this basic fact and they do so at their own peril!
When we skip a meal we trigger a series of hormonal changes in our bodies. It has a large effect on all body systems, esp. our brain and nervous system. Skipping meals causes adrenalin and cortisol to be released into our bloodstream. Adrenalin is a toxin and too much of it makes people shaky, confused, anxious, and unable to focus (sound familiar?). The good thing about adrenalin is it is out of our system in about 15 to 20 minutes. Cortisol, the other major stress hormone, has longer-lasting effects. Cortisol causes us to break down our muscle tissue and to store fat around our organs and under our skin. Many people are trying to lose excess fat, not gain it!
Every time you skip a meal, you cause adrenalin and cortisol to enter your system. They have a net negative effect of your health. It hurts your nervous system. It hurts your organs. It hurts your muscles. As a chiropractor I routinely see patients with migraines, back pain, sleep issues, and other injuries that are mostly related to blood sugar problems. I educate my patients about this secret – of eating every 2-3 hours – and how important it is for overall health.
Once you learn and practice this secret, you will notice immediate benefits. You have a little extra work to do before you leave the house in the morning to make sure you bring enough healthy, low glycemic snacks with you. Of course when we talk about eating every 2-3 hours, we are talking about eating healthy veggies, lean meats, nuts and seeds. Junk food doesn’t count! So I want all of you to be like your ancestors and never skip a meal. By eating small meals every 2-3 hours, you will start to burn more fat, enhance your brain and nervous system, and improve your health significantly.
Yours in Health,
Dr. Andrew
