The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka
128. Kristen Holmes: The TRUTH About Women's Fasting Windows (Science Says You're Doing It Wrong)
Jan 2, 2025
Kristen Holmes, Whoop’s Global Head of Performance and Science, dives into the fascinating world of women's health and nutrition. She reveals that the conventional advice of narrow eating windows may be detrimental to women’s hormones. Kristen discusses the importance of aligning eating patterns with circadian rhythms and the menstrual cycle. She highlights how late eating and alcohol can disrupt sleep, and urges for research that prioritizes women's unique metabolic needs. A must-listen for anyone interested in optimizing health!
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Quick takeaways
- Narrow eating windows under eight hours can disrupt women's hormones due to metabolic strain, especially during their menstrual cycle.
- Aligning eating patterns with the body's circadian rhythm and limiting the eating window to around 10 hours enhances digestion and hormonal health.
Deep dives
Impact of Eating Windows on Digestion and Sleep
Eating over extended periods, such as the average American's 15-hour window, places significant stress on the body's digestive process. This extended eating schedule can interfere with essential repair and restoration functions that typically occur during sleep, as the body prioritizes digestion instead. Narrow feeding windows, particularly under eight hours, have been linked to hormone disruption in women, potentially due to the additional metabolic strain during phases of their menstrual cycle. This suggests that a balance in eating patterns is crucial for maintaining not just digestive health but also overall physiological functions like sleep and hormonal balance.
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