"Eat the right food at the right time". Chrononutrition, a concept developed in 1986 by Doctor Alain Delabos, is not a diet but a form of "food optimization" which "takes account of the biological clock", explains Isabelle Bara, nutrition and chrononutrition consultant in Paris , on Europe 1. "We have variations of enzymes and hormones throughout the 24 hours, the same for everyone, and these enzymes and hormones use food differently in the morning, at noon, in the evening and at night. " This scheme, "very effective for losing weight", but also for sleeping better and finding more energy, is to be adopted for life, advises the expert.
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Manage meal times
This diet takes into account the production of hormones in the human body, in particular cortisol, which allows the regulation of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, ions and water, or even insulin. "Insulin has a very big influence on the storage of fat," says the expert. "It is a hormone which has a peak already at 8 am, after at the end of the morning around 11 am, a small peak around 3 pm and after decrease very strongly in a completely natural way, unless you eat foods containing fast sugars. In these cases, there are additional peaks that are created by the pancreas and cause insulin to intervene more intensely to manage the intake of sugar. " In return for its action, insulin is therefore a storage hormone.
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Between breakfast and lunch, it is advisable to leave a minimum of four hours, as well as between lunch and afternoon tea. Then, an interval of minimum 1h30 to 2h is recommended between the snack and the dinner. After the evening meal, you should wait two hours before going to bed.
A good breakfast to start the day
To rebalance your diet with the chrononutrition method, it is necessary to take into account the natural cycle and thus ingest fast sugars when insulin is least present. "We will try to avoid quick sugars at breakfast and we will intervene in quick sugars only in the form of a snack at the end of the afternoon," explains Isabelle Bara. For breakfast, avoid jams, spreads or too sweet cereals. "As insulin plays its role well and brings sugar into the cells, you will have what is called reaction hypoglycemia at the end of the morning," she adds. The symptoms are known: lack of concentration, fatigue, yawning, early hunger.
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To avoid this type of inconvenience, it is better to ingest saturated fats at the start of the day such as butter, cheese or starchy foods. "See an egg if you have a long morning, or even cold meats," advises the expert in chrononutrition. "All the fatty substances that have a bad reputation when we want to lose weight and fight against cholesterol, we must put them at the start of the day. There, they are really used in an optimal way. We need them for our cell membranes, to lots of things". Before recalling: "cholesterol does not have only negative effects".
To calculate the proportions, Isabelle Bara recommends a simple method. A patient of 1.70 meters can consume about 70 grams of cheese in the morning, half as much for bread, so 35 grams.
A light dinner
"Lunch is the time for muscle synthesis, naturally, which can also be boosted when you exercise. And to build muscle, you need a lot of protein and a little starchy food," says Isabelle Bara. "We are going to discard the starters, the desserts, which also includes the fruits". Red, white meat, eggs or fish are to be adopted for the midday meal.
Vegetables are preferred in the evening. "From the snack, we are in micro-nutrition. That is to say foods that want you good in small quantities. They are lighter foods that provide micronutrients and that are useful for your body. to regenerate at night, "she analyzes. The body is very active during our sleep: the liver works a lot, the body loses weight. Fish, white meat, without sauces but with oils rich in omega 3 are to be adopted. "We must avoid chocolate at 9 pm, which has no place, the aperitif: small deviations," says the expert.