The Body cycles

The need for an optimised daily routine for the body was discovered by Ayurveda many ages ago.  This daily routine depended on the energy states of the body and was cyclic in nature.  Some of the practices may seem just like common sense - like getting up early or sleeping early etc but the effects of most of them have been studied by wise men over a long period of time before handing them over to the commoners as ancient wisdom and common sense.

For the purpose of understanding our body cycles with respect to having food, we may broadly divide them into

1.  Early - Late morning (upto noon) - MORNING CYCLE

2. Noon - Early evening (before 8 pm) - AFTERNOON CYCLE

3. Early evening - Early morning (upto 4 am) - EVENING CYCLE

MORNING CYCLE (0400-1200hrs)
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During the morning cycle, our body is in the process of shedding all the waste materials.  This process continues even after we wake up.  The concentration of  the whole body is on the intestines as most of the wastes accumulate there over the night and all efforts are directed towards expunging this waste from the body.  The body brings all the waste materials closer to the anus and also dilates all the muscles there in order for it to be easily excreted from the body.

At this point in time, if we have tea or coffee (as we normally do), the concentration of the body towards excretion is disturbed and part of the focus is shifted towards digesting this tea or coffee in the stomach.  If we also have some refreshments alongwith tea/coffee, substantial effort is diverted towards digesting the same and the process of excretion becomes incomplete or uneasy due to insufficient body effort being available for the same.

As the sun keeps rising, the body clock reduces the efforts of the body towards the process of excretion and increases the hunger.  As the sun rays heat up, our body is primed to receive food and the hunger is maximum at 12 noon. 

Morning cycle -Do's
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1.  Wake up between 4-5 a.m

2.  Have breakfast only after 8 a.m

3. This will give a clear 3-4 hours for the body to complete the process of excretion and be ready to receive new food particles

4.  Have a litre of water after getting up and do your routine

5.  After routine do yoga or other exercises or pranayama

6.  Have another litre of water to further help the body remove the wastes.

7. In this way, let the body have only water for 3-4 hours in the morning for it to completely remove all the wastes from the body.

8. Therefater have a light breakfast comprising easily digestible substances (more on that later) as the stomach would still be in a slumber and not be warmed up to receive heavy substances.

AFTERNOON CYCLE (1200-2000)
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As already mentioned above, the hunger of the body is maximum at 12 noon as the rays of the Sun are the brightest.  Several local anamolies may cause the peak time of the Sun to vary within a small interval.  However it would suffice most conditions if we can have our Lunch between 12 pm to 1 pm (or 1300).  As the digestive fire of the body is at its peak, this is the time to have solid and large food.  The body would easily digest these hard substances.

Avoid sleeping for long hours after Lunch. Restrict sleep to not more than 45 minutes (why? we will see later)

As the afternoon progresses into the evening the digestive fire slowly reduces. (One would recollect the hunger pangs in the afternoon but rarely would anyone remember hunger pangs at night).

Therefore in the evening, we must have a light dinner atleast 4 hours before  bedtime for it to be fully digested before we sleep. This not only ensures that our stomach has a rest of 6-8 hours but also ensures that our food reaches our intestines through the stomach. Therefore, dinner must be ideally had by 6 p.m. This would give four hours for the body to digest the food and 6-8 hours for it to rest before the next cycle.  However as 6 p.m may be impracticable in most situations, every effort to is to be made to have dinner before 8 p.m atleast.

 EVENING CYCLE (2000 - 0400)
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The evening cycle mainly requires one to have a sound sleep. that's all.  Avoid late night snacking after dinner as it disturbs the body organs from rest.

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Have you heard the saying - have  breakfast like a king - lunch like a commoner and dinner like a miser?!! 

As it appears now, nothing could be farther from the truth - it should read as - have breakfast as a miser - lunch like a king and dinner as a commoner.