I was listening to an awesome podcast this morning with Mike Bledsoe from Barbell Shrugged Collective. He had a geneticist on who focuses on mitochondrial science. Check out the episode because I don’t recall his name. Apparently, many supplements we take are not carte blanche recommendations for most people. In fact, some supplements may have a reverse or negative effect. As a trained geneticist myself, I found this guy could get lost in the weeds really fast. But hold on because he comes around.

I’m not all way the through the podcast, but the bottom line is this. If you don’t satisfy basic requirements associated with your circadian rhythms, much of what you do for your health can be for naught. The truth of our lives is that the sun rises and the sun sets. Our bodies are completely governed by that cycle. If we disobey any aspect of it, all the diet, supplements, and exercise in the world won’t allow us to reach our full potentials.

Hopefully I can remember the key characteristics of circadian cycles that have to be obeyed:
– sleep is key
– proper hydration
– restricting your eating window
– eating only during daylight hours
– having adequate levels of minerals

He gave such a great analogy. Say I have an old Camaro that isn’t running well. I can put a super charger, high performance headers, and inject nitrous oxide into the engine; but without providing the basics of good spark plugs, proper timing, and other essential elements, the Camaro isn’t going to run better. You have to satisfy the base requirements first before adding anything else on.

Sleep and hydration are probably the first and more necessary components to start with. My big add on lately has been intermittent fasting. But apparently, that isn’t an add-on. It may be a necessity that we’ve forgotten about. It has changed my life. I no longer want to snack at night. And I am never really hungry anymore. I love to eat and I savor my feeding window. But because my stomach has seemingly shrunk, I get full so much faster. So instead of gorging myself in my feeding window, my food intake has largely moderated. Its so amazing how that works.

With anything in life, you have to satisfy the basics before you add the extras. Its Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in manyfold ways. Its like trying to learn differential calculus before you even know how to add and subtract. There are no magic pills in life. Obey your Circadian Rhythms.