When You Eat May Be More Important Than What You Eat

Our society is obsessed with food. Thousands of websites, most with a specific point of view, are dedicated to this obsession. Every new study highlighting the benefits of a particular diet becomes front page news. Invariably, the food discussion touts a particular nutritional regimen.

Although this research has increased awareness about the benefits of eating healthy, most of it ignores a critical relationship between what we eat and our overall level of health and fitness. Almost all eating assumes that the body's metabolic needs are fixed, so all you have to do is consume the right combinations of healthy food. However, some of the most exciting research coming out of prestigious scientific institutions is focusing on the "when" rather that the "what" of our daily food consumption, and this research is challenging long-held beliefs.

Research now shows that the key pathways responsible for controlling appetite, converting food into energy, reducing metabolic stress and building muscle mass are not constantly set to the "on" position.

To the contrary, each of these pathways has a unique metabolic rhythm that is programmed into our DNA. Anyone who has ever traveled through multiple time zones and felt the effects of sleeplessness, disorientation and loss of appetite is familiar with the circadian rhythm, our internal clock.

What most people do not realize is our internal clock also controls the metabolic pathways that determine our fitness levels. Once you understand how each of these metabolic pathways is programmed, you can adjust the nutritional composition of your meals to allow these pathways to work in an ultra-efficient mode. This is the core principle of a new concept called "Functional Eating."

Conventional eating plans assume that the body's metabolic needs are fixed, so all you have to be concerned with is consuming a healthy ratio of carbohydrate, protein and fat over a 24-hour period. This assumption is now known to be false, and conventional eating plans based on it are metabolically counterproductive. For example, consuming a high-protein meal when energy needs are greatest will accelerate muscle fatigue. Functional Eating recognizes and exploits our changing metabolic needs over the course of the day. Consuming the right combination of nutrients at the right times will give you more energy, reduce metabolic stress, increase the production of lean body mass and help you maintain a healthy weight.

Recognizing how the bodies metabolic needs change over the course of the day is the first step to implementing a "Functional Eating plan". There are three primary functional intervals in the day: 

7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

When you are sleeping, your body calls upon energy reserves stored in muscle and fat cells to maintain minimal function. This process involves the stress hormone cortisol. Just prior to daybreak, cortisol levels are highest. The morning interval is critical to reduce cortisol levels and prime your metabolic machinery.

9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

We are hardwired to be active during daylight hours. As a result, the metabolic machinery that converts food into energy is in a heightened state of activation during this interval.

5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

During this period of the day, the pathways responsible for building and repairing protein are most active. 

Functional Eating is not complicated. It's simply a matter of eating appropriately for each functional time period of the day.

Doing so is as easy as following these seven basic guidelines:

1. Never skip breakfast. The ideal breakfast consists of about 80% carbs and 20% protein.  This ratio will not only reduce cortisol levels but also replenish muscle energy stores depleted while you were sleeping.

2. Eat high-carbohydrate foods between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to ensure that the muscles and brain have sufficient energy.

3. Decrease consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods throughout the afternoon and evening.

4. Consume 55 percent of your daily calories by 1:00 p.m. to parallel the body's energy needs. 

5. Eat high-protein foods between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. The protein turnover circuit is most active during this period because it is not competing with the pathways responsible for generating energy.

6. Keep fat intake to a minimum in the morning and throughout most of the day, but increase your intake of healthy (mainly plant) fats in the evening. Since these fats are especially potent suppressors of hunger, this strategy helps keep you full in the period between dinner and bedtime.

7. Whatever time of day you work out, make sure you pay close attention to your fueling and recovery nutrition.

Our bodies have remarkable metabolic capabilities. The challenge is knowing how to realize this metabolic potential. Functional Eating is a powerful new tool to help do just that!

Dr. Robert Portman, a well known sports science researcher, is coauthor of Nutrient Timing. The Functional Eating Plan is summarized from his latest book, Hardwired for Fitness.