Eating according to our needs with Chrononutrition English version

fvrier 28, 2012 My Home Bootcamp 3 Comments Welcome to our english readers. I am so happy to write this first article for you, please mind my english, its been a long time since I havent been practising. Today I want to introduce to you a french method known as Chrononutrition. It was created by Dr. Delabos and validated by the European Institute for Research in Nutrition (IREN) and it is completely different from any other kind of nutrition plan. Whether you like it or not, I think it is worth taking a look at it and making your opinion. I already followed this method in the past with good results, but I didnt go on after my pregnancies. But since I have been interested in fitness, Ive read many people saying that it was perfectly suiting their fitness programm, so I decided to give it another try. Among the reasons that made me go back to the Chrononutrition is the fact that it is not a restrictive diet, that the number of meals is not to high (only one snack) and that we are allowed to skip the dinner. There is no frustration and no hunger between the meals but the results are here : people lose fat and not muscle, there body gets toned even when they dont practise sports.

What is chrononutrition ?
As I told you, it is not a restrictive diet. It is a whole new way of eating that teaches people to listen to their bodies. We are not going to eat according to our wills but according to our bodys needs, depending on the moment of the day. Throughout the day, the body undergoes many different enzymatic and hormonal secretions that create different needs which we have to learn how to respond to in the appropriate way. Learning about those mecanisms enables us to realize how much the way we eat is a complete nutritionnal aberration. We should learn how to eat food when the body will metabolize it, not when it will be stored. Not only the method helps people getting thiner but it also helps people getting thicker when they need it. To sum up, lets say that we will eat like a king in the morning, like a prince at noon and like a pooper at night, which is to say a big breakfast with complex carbs, fats and proteins, a lunch with proteins and complex carbs, an afternoon snack with vegetable fats and semi-low carbs and a dinner with proteins and greens.

One day with Chrononutrition

(The indicated portions are given for a 5 ft 7 in person with an average level of activeness. The method proposes different portions depending on your age, your level of activeness and your morphotype.) Breakfast time Throughout the day, our body undergoes 4 major cortisol peaks. Each of these peaks creates a secretion of insuline which leads to a hyperglycemia, which is to say a low quantity of glucose in the brain. This hyperglycemia will give the feeling of hunger.

The first major cortisol peak happens about 2 hours before waking up and it will lead to a hyperglycemia that will wake us up in order to eat and calm the hunger. The insuline that is secreted is an hormone which processes carbohydrates so it is the perfect time to consume them without being afraid of them being stored in our muscles and other tissues. Of course, we are talking about complex carbs. Simple carbs are forbidden in the morning because when the level of insuline is high, as it is in the morning, the glucose is stored in the muscles and tissues and thats just what we dont want. Furthermore, high carbs consumption creates another increase in insuline level which will lead to a feeling of hunger just after this first meal. The feeling of hunger we just talked about creates a secretion of lipases and proteases in the stomach, the liver and the pancreas. Lipases are a digestive enzyme secreted by the pancreas. They play a role in ensuring viable cells by breaking down lipids that will be metabolized during the night. It is then the perfect time to consume fats. As to proteases, it is an enzyme which plays a role in the cellular process by breaking down proteins during sleeping time, in a process known as hydrolysis. So as you have already guessed, it is the good time to have proteins. So here is what the breakfast will look like: - Complex carbs: bread or cereals. I suggest we should go a little bit further than what the method wants by taking into consideration the difference between low complex carbs and high complex carbs. I would rather have whole flour bread or cereals than white ones. I would like to draw your attention to fact that the allowed bread is what you call the French baguette or same kind of breads that are not made with sugar. Sliced bread (we call it pain de mie) is forbidden because there is sugar in the recipe. Be carefull with cereals too, they must not have sugar. Oatmeal is a good choice. - Fats and proteins : butter, unprocessed cheese (not the processed one which are mixed with water, salt, emulsifiers) or cottage cheese if you prefer. You can also sometimes have meat or eggs. - No simple carbs (fruit juice, jam, pastry). For a 5 ft 7 in person, the portions are : 100 g of cheese (or cottage cheese), 70 g of bread, 10 to 20 g of butter. You can have a sandwich or a piece of pizza if you want as long as there is no forbidden food and provided you respect the portions. I am afraid I have to tell those of you who love having milk in the morning that it is not allowed in chrononutrition, at any time of the day (as well as yogurts and cream). The first reason is the potential negative health effect of milk, but I know that not everybody agrees with it. Another reason is that milk contains fats and sugar (lactose) at the same time and it can cause weight gain, and cholesterol or diabet problems. Dont worry about calcium, cheese is allowed because it doesnt contain lactose and cottage cheese is tolerated because it only contains a little. I think breakfast is the most challenging meal by far because many of us have been taught for years that it has to be a comprehensive meal with diary, sugar, cereals and fruits. So we take something from each food group and gather it into a breakfast that looks like it is the last meal of our lives. It is also difficult to stop having sweet breakfasts, but we can quickly get used to it. Lunch time The second major cortisol peak appears about 4 hours after breakfast. It is a little bit lower than the first one so the insuline secretion is lower too. On the other side, there is a huge secretion of protease and amylases. At this time of the day, the process of cell proteins establishment takes place as well as the storage of proteins

reserves and globulin. We just mentionned protease. As to amylases, they are an enzyme which catabolizes starch (the main component of complex carbs) and have a main role in its digestion. So, no need to tell you it is a good moment for having complex carbs. So, what we have to do for lunch is having proteins and complex carbs (Id rather choose them with a low glycemic index) The advised portions for a 5 ft 7 in person are : 170 to 270 g of meat and 4 tablespoons of complex carbs, no matter how. You can have a steak and french fries if you wish to (I know it sounds weird, but it works, I wouldnt do it though for other reasons) You can replace the meat by fish or even eggs provided you add some legumes (any kind of beans) or cereals which are full of vegetable proteins. Afternoon snack First thing, it is important to keep in mind that there is absolutely no fixed hour for this snack. It doesnt have to be at 4:30 as we are used to. The snack must be taken between 5 and 6 hours after lunch, once you have a feeling of hunger. Be sure not to skip this meal because it calms the hunger down and enables you to have a light dinner afterwards. This moment of the day is the third major cortisol peak, once you have digested your lunch. It is lower than the two first ones and creates a low secretion of insuline, lipases and proteases. On the contrary of the two first meals, snack doesnt play a role in cells process. Its goal is to rest the body and relax the brain. The good things to eat are vegetable fats (dark chocolate, nuts, olives, advocato you can even have a piece of nougat) and semi low sugar found in any form of fruits (juice, stewed fruits, jam or even sorbet). Having this sugar at this time of the day is not a problem because when the level of insuline is very low, as it is at this moment, glucose is stored in the form of glycogen, a source of energy that will be used by the body and it is not stored in the form of fat in the tissues. Morover, this sugar is fructose and has a low glycemic index. As any kind of sugar, it will give a quicker feeling of hunger, but dont worry, dinner only comes in 1 or 2 hours. As to portions, you can have, for instance, 30 g of dark chocolate and 4 tablespoons of fresh fruits. Dinner time It is the last major cortisol peak of the day, about an hour and a half after the snack. There is hardly any enzyme secretion at the end of the day so this meal has to be as light as possible for the body not to store it because what we eat wont be metabolized. We will have food that will provide a feeling of satiety without bringing fats nor carbs. We will also take this opportunity to maintain a good daily balance, eating food that contains nutrients we didnt get the rest of the day : fish or seafood for the Omega 3 intake, and greens or salad. Well, in fact it is not really a matter of colour. What is meant by greens is any vegetable we cant make flour with. So tomatoes, red peppers and mushrooms are ok, event if theyre not green, whereas green peas are not. The advised portions for a 5 ft 7 in person are 270 g of fish, or seafood at will, or 130 g of white meat with 4 tablespoons of greens or a plate of salad. As this meal doesnt match with any enzyme secretion, it is not compulsory. There is no problem if we skip it. However, if we choose to do so, we should have some fish or seafood as part of our lunch the next day in order to avoid a lack of Omega 3. Personnaly, I would just have complements or rapeseed oil that contains enough Omega 3 and not to much Omega 6.

Issues about this method

What if I am hungry between meals? If you stick to the portions and if you dont have high carbs when you should not, there is no reason for you to feel hungry between the meals. If so, it will be a good lesson for you and you will now try to pay better attention to portions, for sure. Try not to cheat and next time just make sure you eat enough during meals. What if I am hungry during a meal? You dont need to starve so youre allowed to increase the protein portion if you feel you need to. But dont increase the carbs and the vegetables, except the legumes. What if I am not hungry? Your last meal may have been to heavy. You can decrease the portion of carbs or vegetables for the next meal. You can even have only proteins, but not the contrary. But be carefull, if your meal is to light, you might feel hungry right after and eat before the next meal, which will completely unbalance your diet. What are the big No-nos? - Dont reverse meals. It would make no sense and wont match your bodys needs anymore. - Dont compensate with a heavy meal at night if you didnt eat enough the rest of the day. - Dont eat between the 4 meals, except pre and post training meals. - No dairy (milk, yogourt, cream) except unprocessed cheese and cottage cheese. - No soups. They are full of sodium which increases water retention and therefore cellulite. For the same reason, I would advise you to pay attention to sodium in any food (espacially fish and seafoods, processed and caned food also) - No sweet baverages, except a 100% fruit juice for snack if you choose so. You can have tea or coffee at will, as long as you dont add sugar. - No desserts. - No low fat food because there is no nutritionnal benefit. The best thing to do is to have real fats at the good time, when your body needs it instead of having empty food. Personnaly, I always had a problem with those milk without milk, butter without butter, sugar without sugar, for me it just sounds like having food without food. Can we cheat? Yes we can! You are allowed to have two cheat meals each week but those meals must not be choosen the same day. The purpose is to limitate frustration. It is better to have two real cheat meals than to have small cheat nibbles all day long. Chrononutrition and sports

Dr. Delabos says that the best moment to train is at the end of the afternoon. Pre and post meal will replace the afternoon snack. You will have a banana and your portion of vegetable fats before training and your portion of fruits right after. If you train at another time, you will have a banana or a protein bar 30 to 60 minutes before training and you will have it again every hour if you train for many hours. My concern is that I still dont know how to deal with the post meal recommandations (a protein meal with few carbs and no fats). I am used to having my breakfast as a post training meal but now, according the chononutrition, it should have fats. Maybe I should just take some protein powder after training and wait about an hour before having breakfast. Anyway I dont really know how early pre and post training meals affect the enzymes and hormones secretions. I dont want to have food thinking that it will be metabolized while it will be stored. I still dont have the answer to this question but I am looking for it. To sum up my chrononutrition day 30 to 60 minutes before training: 1 protein bar or a banana. After training : A protein shake, with no carbs. Breakfast at 7:00 : (Whole) cereals or bread with butter, cheese or cottage cheese. No milk and no sugar (fruits, juice, jam, sliced bread) Lunch at 12:00 : Meat or fish or eggs with low complex carbs. No dessert and no sweet baverage. Afternoon snack at 5:00 : Vegetable fats and fruits. No complex carbs (cakes, biscuits, bread). Dinner : Fish or seafood or white meat with greens or salad. No dessert and no sweet baverage. Morphotypes Chrononutrition studies peoples physical characteristics and classify them into 10 groups, known as morphotypes. The differences between them is mainly due to their eating habits. For instance, people belonging to the Monastic morphotype (in reference to the Monks) have thin legs, with large waist and big stomach mainly because they have a lack of meat and eat to much complex carbs and pastries, etc. They will have to lower the carbs and have more proteins. The morphotype is calculated with your size and weight as well as the size of your breast, waist and hips, and the width of your wrist. Once you found your morphotype, you can modify your daily portions according to what is advised to the people of your group. What I dont like about the method To be honest, I can hardly find things I dont like in this method. I dont really appreciate the amount of meat we have to eat, it is a bit to much for me so I dont really stick to it. I would also have appreciated if the moprhotype had taken weight distribution into consideration (muscle and fat mass). I do agree with what is said about diaries but I wish the method had gone a little bit further in terms of healthy eating habits. It is pleasant to be able to have any kind of food, but I dont think you can let people believe that

they can have fried or grilled food, refined sugar or white cereals without any effects on their health, just because they eat them at the good time of the day. A diet that works is a good thing, a complete healthy diet is better to my opinion. But I guess we cant ask everything to this method, it is also ours to be responsible of what and how we eat.
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