Health Update: When to Eat for Optimal Health

Mark Smith • October 2, 2023

Hello again everyone:

 

Here is a great article that continues on the previous blog post, and it is about when to eat for optimal health. This brand-new report evaluated what is called early Time Restricted Feeding, (eTRF) where 80% of your caloric intake is accomplished by 1:00 PM. They looked at how this eating pattern affected your blood sugar and inflammation, two important markers for health and longevity. Here is what they found:


“We decreased the time these individuals were having high blood sugar levels with just one week of eTRF feeding,” said study senior author José O. Alemán, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Langone. “The findings show that eating a majority of one’s calories earlier in the day reduces the time that the blood sugar is elevated, thereby improving metabolic health.”

“Based on this data, eTRF may be a helpful dietary strategy for diabetes prevention,” concluded Dr. Bruno.

 

https://nyulangone.org/news/study-finds-eating-meals-earlier-improves-metabolic-health

 

Bottom Line:

 

The only shortcoming of this study is that they do not reveal what the study participants actually ate, because conceivably having them eat a predominantly plant-based food plan with low glycemic foods could have considerably improved their results. At any rate, blood sugar problems are ridiculously common in our country, with 1 in 10 having diabetes, and more than 1 in 3 having pre-diabetes. These facts are troubling because there are many diseases and inflammatory processes driven by blood sugar imbalances: kidney disease; hypertension; dementia; obesity; polycystic ovarian syndrome; fatty liver; dental problems; thyroid disorders; digestive disorders and celiac disease; and more. Switching to eTRF can modify or prevent these challenging health issues…for optimal health, why not try eTRF and see how it goes? Ask your health care professional if you have any issues that would prevent this eating pattern…and of course, always eat clean, organic, predominantly plant based food patterns for optimal health.


Diabetes Facts:


https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/major-study-of-diabetes-trends-shows-americans-blood-sugar-control-is-getting-worse

 

https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/spotlights/diabetes-facts-stats.html

By Mark Smith March 23, 2026
Health News Update: How To Fight Inflammation and Chronic Disease 3.23.26 Hello again everyone: You might wonder why I keep focusing on food…so here are some of the reasons: food choices are the leading cause of death in the U.S. and spreading around the world. Poor food choices lead to inflammation which slowly destroy health. It is that simple, plain, and clear and backed by research. The next question: how do we fight back? Introduction The positive impact of food on health was postulated by the ancient Hippocrates, father of modern medicine with his famous quote: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” [1]. In the 21st century, scientists have focused on the effect of nutritional habits in diseases. Nowadays, it is well documented that food plays a noteworthy role in the pathogenesis of chronic diseases namely cardiovascular diseases (CVD), metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus type II, and cancer [2–5], as it correlates with others with the lipid pattern, the blood pressure, and the endothelial function. The scientists examine the effect of nutritional habits on disease emergence and progression in both individual nutrient intake and dietary patterns models. Worldwide, two dietary patterns are usually compared—the Mediterranean diet (MD) and the Western diet (WD) [3,6]. The Mediterranean diet reflects the food culture of most Mediterranean countries based on olive oil consumption, seasonal fresh vegetables, cereals, and plants in balance with low consumption of meat [7]. The Western diet, on the contrary, is dominated by high-fat dairy products processed and red meat [8]. However, discordance in the different MD patterns and consumed food doses had been recognized. Without any doubt, those discrepancies could confine and restrict our knowledge on the health benefit mechanisms of the MD [9]. Due to the above, the medical community along with nutritionists and dieticians take a keen interest in MD and its traits [7]. https://www.academia.edu/45378994/biomedicines_Mediterranean_Diet_as_a_Tool_to_Combat_Inflammation_and_Chronic_Diseases_An_Overview?email_work_card=view-paper food choices can fight inflammation and chronic disease Bottom Line: This is a 2020 paper and since then literally hundreds of papers on the MD have emerged showing how the food plan lowers inflammation and the risk for developing multiple chronic illnesses. Even still, lots of research needs to be done to elucidate the many mechanisms of how food impacts our system and how to optimally individualize dietary recommendations. At this point, our best strategy to prevent and/or recover from any chronic condition is to eat as clean and natural as possible. It has become rather obvious that the further away from a natural diet we get, the sicker we become. On top of that, I have yet to see a full recovery from any health issue without the foundation of a predominantly plant-based, unprocessed, whole foods approach…which is why I keep posting about this subject. All the best to you and yours!
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