This article said (based on my skim of it while doing the crossword puzzle) that eating between meals can put stress on your liver and mess up your metabolism. They recommended going 4 hours without eating. That includes milk in coffee. I read a wonderful article in Harper's a while back on the benefits of fasting. I thought about it, but I can barely manage three hours without eating, let alone a week.
While I was fascinated by the Harper's article, I was motivated by this blurb in the newspaper. I don't mind being a little pudgy, but I certainly don't want anything bad happening to my liver. And I don't even know what my liver does. I know the heart circulates blood, lungs bring in oxygen, and our brain is where we think. But the liver? What exactly does it do? How does it work? It filters out stuff, but beyond that, I really couldn't say. Since I don't know what it does, I don't know if I can be fixed and therefore I should take care of it, right? Might I be the only person motivated by ignorance? Maybe if I knew more about the liver, I might not care.
When I read this article, I started to realize how often I munch. In the morning, I might wake up before seven with my daughter. I might grab a bite of leftovers from the previous might's dinner. Then around 8:30, I will sit down for breakfast with my son. Then after I walk the dog, I might have another snack around 9:30. Then I'd eat lunch around 11:30, snack around 4:00 with kids, and so on. Grazing.
So I've stopped grazing and only eat at meals. We'll see what happens, but the verdict isn't in yet. I've been a little cranky lately. (See article on rage.) Maybe I was in a perpetual food coma before, and that deadened my emotions. While I might be pissed off the the universe, my jeans are looser.
No comments:
Post a Comment