Evidence against the warrior diet being conducive to normal human circadian rhythm optimization

Based on the physiology of the light entrainable oscillator (LEO) of the suprachiasmic nucleus (SCN) of the human brain, we are night time sleepers.  During the day, sunlight entering our eyes causes a decrease of melatonin production in our brains.  Melatonin is a chemical that promotes sleepiness, so when it is low during the day we are more alert and awake.  During the dark hours, melatonin increases in our brains and we get sleepier.  

Another effect of a normal circadian cycle is core body temperature (CBT) oscillation.  CBT peaks during the day and troughs during the night.  The bigger the amplitude of CBT the higher the sleep quality is.  The architecture of higher quality sleep includes higher percentages of slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. 

There is a food entrainable oscillator (FEO) in the peripheral tissues of the body as well.  The intake of food is the zietgeber or time giver for the FEO, and the FEO can be in synchrony with the LEO, or it can be out of synch depending on the timing of said food intake.  

The effects on sleep of asynchrony between the LEO and FEO were illustrated in a study titled “Sleep during Ramadan intermittent fasting” by Roky et al.  In the study, they observed a decrease in sleep quality and CBT amplitudes of the subjects during the night time only eating period of Ramadan.  Night time eating interfered with night time sleeping.  

Another study titled “Alterations of internal circadian phase relationships after morning versus evening carbohydrate rich meals in humans” by Krauchi et al, observed that the evening carb rich meal caused a significant decrease of the CBT amplitude resulting primarily from an increased night time trough.  That means poorer sleep after the evening meal.  

Another study, more pertinent to the warrior diet’s central premise concerning the autonomic nervous system, is titled “Effect of insulin and glucose infusions on sympathetic nervous system activity in normal man”.  In it, Rowe et al show evidence that increased plasma insulin causes an increase in SNS activity.  Eating carbohydrates causes an increase in plasma insulin which causes an increase in SNS activity, whereas, fasting and carbohydrate restriction stimulates parasympathetic nervous system activity via a reduction of plasma insulin.  This is the opposite of warrior diet theology.  

So, eating a majority of one’s calories at night before bed time is antagonistic to night time sleep quality and optimal circadian rhythms.  

Why should anyone care?  Circadian rhythm disruption is associated with a host of diseases of civilization including cancer and cardiovascular disease, the two leading causes of mortality and morbidity in the U.S. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3521792/

http://www.heartandmetabolism.com/download/44/3.pdf

With all of this in mind, I believe that eating during a morning restricted feeding window is best for circadian rhythm optimization.  

I believe God speaks to us through the results of science too.  

Those who have eyes will see.  Those who have ears will hear...  

Lead us not into temptation: the nature of evil

I believe the lords prayer has it wrong.  God, the all good entity, does not lead anyone into temptation.  That is the realm of the evil one who rebelled against the creator.  The story of the fall is the primary example, in the monotheistic tradition, of the evil one in action. 

God created us in his/her image.  Satan, the prideful envious one, is always seeking to debase God's creation.  The more we succumb to the temptations of Satan, the further from the original image we get. 

I believe images closer to the original  that God intended are the following:



   

and



and


We were created with arms and legs and anearobic and aerobic energy systems that are intended to be used.
Satan influenced, debased images are:



and


I am going to worship now by doing a high intensity interval workout after not eating since yesterday morning.  I am thankful for God's gravity.  

Peace...

in the beginning

In a book titled "The New Religious Humanist: A Reader"  edited by Gregory Wolfe, there is a chapter written by Wendell Berry titled "Christianity and the survival of creation".  In it, Mr. Berry points out that the passage in Genesis 2:7 says,

"the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul."

That is, living soul = dust + breath.  It does not say man = body + soul.  

If this is truly the case, then we cannot be living souls without the dust, and we cease to be living souls without the breath of life too.  Digression, with this equation, can there be such a thing as an immortal soul?

I agree with Mr. Berry concerning the nature of living souls.  As a result, I believe the dust, being a part of the creation, is just as sacred as the breath of life.  The dust part of us should be treated respectfully and honored just as much as the breath of life may be in order to honor the creator and in order to maximize the health of ourselves as living souls.

I believe an early clue to how to honor the dust lies in the story about Cain and Abel.  God favored Abel, the herder of sheep, over his older brother, the tiller of the land.   Abel was a nomadic pastoralist.  Nomadic pastoralists were and are most definitely not vegans.  In fact most of their calories were probably derived from the animals that they tended to.  They did a lot of walking as they moved the flock to greener pastures so as to avoid overgrazing any one patch of land.  The flock fertilized the ground with their droppings as it  went. 

Cain, in contrast, stayed in one spot and extirpated entire ecosystems in order to mine the nutrients out of the soil by tilling.  In place of a diverse ecosystem, he planted a few species of annual grains for a few growing seasons until the nutrients were used up.  Then, he would have to move on to a different patch to start the raping of the land anew. 

Daniel Quinn discusses this story in his book "Ishmael". 

My takeaway is, a society based on rotational grazing is better for creation than tilling the land.  God favors nomadic pastoralism and the ways of life that go along with it over tilling of the land.

I shall go tend to my dust/soul health now by doing a first thing in the morning fasted (I have not eaten since yesterday morning) high intensity interval workout.  Then I will reward myself with a high fat, low carbage ketogenic breaking of my fast.

More later,

Peace...

Full disclosure:

I do not believe every word in the Bible is the unerring, divinely inspired word of God.  It starts right off with two creation stories that contradict each other.  Were the animals created before humans or was Adam, a human, created before the animals?  Also, the numbers of times the document had to be translated from one language to another before it was written in english leaves a lot of room for interpretation on the part of the translators.  The number of times the tome had to be transcribed by hand before a printing press existed is another source of interpretive wiggle room. 

That being said, I do like parts of the Bible as an instruction manual.  The Creator gave us our abilities to think abstractly with our large brains.  Because we have the ability to perceive past, present, and future, we have an affinity to story narratives, or we like a good story.  We also have the ability to think critically.  As such, I believe we should use the stories within the Bible as guides that we remember, consider, critique, and incorporate into how we live. 

This blog will be my personal exploratory journey of my interpretations of Bible stories and how I use these interpretations to guide my actions. 

Peace,
Paul