Are you eating too late at night??

Let me talk about the circadian rhythm and the connection between melatonin and blood sugar control.

I have always emphasised on good sleep and sleep hygiene habits but today I will dive into it deeper and talk about how melatonin (sleep hormone) can affect the insulin/ blood sugar levels.

Melatonin is a hormone, which is naturally secreted in the evening to allow body to go into unwinding mode and get ready for sleep.

Past few years I have been following the clinical scientist – Satchin Panda! He has been doing research on circadian rhythm and time restricted eating for a while .

In one of his findings he emphasised on how melatonin, during the evening surge, puts pancreas to sleep. Eating too close to the bedtime or upon waking up – before nightly melatonin levels have returned to normal levels – may hamper the body’s ability to process glucose.

Our body is inherently wise and intelligent and has its own circadian rhythm. All hormones work beautifully and in harmony when we start following those rhythms.

Give atleast two hours upon waking up with the first meal. That’s when melatonin starts going to day time levels and cortisol starts going up.

Second, minimum 3 hours between dinner and sleep.

Eating too close to your bedtime might be one of the reasons why you might be inhibiting your weight loss goals and not getting good nights sleep.