While it may feel great initially, there can be a very real, hidden cost of skipping meals. In this post, I share the Chinese Medicine perspective on why that is: we will learn about Pre- and Post-Heaven Qi, and the practice of nourishing life.
What is the source of our vitality? And what is Pre- and Post-Heaven Qi?
Our oldest medical text (the Huang Di Nei Jing, which is over 2,000 years old!), definitively states that: “The source of vitality is the diet”.
The food that nourishes us each day provides energy for all of our daily body functions and repairs. It governs how vibrant and energetic we feel. We call this our Post-Heaven Qi, and it is rooted in the Spleen.
We also have deep reserves of energy that we enter this world with – what we call our Pre-Heaven Qi. This is regarded as a precious reserve, to be treasured over our lifetime. The better we tend to it and cultivate it, the more vitally we age. This is the motivation behind all of our Chinese Medicine Yang Sheng (“Nourishing Life”) practices.
Our Pre-Heaven Qi is rooted in the Kidneys, and shares some overlap with adrenal energy and stress hormones. We can draw on these precious reserves to run from danger, or lift a car. But they are for emergency purposes only – not for daily use!
When we skip meals, we don’t replenish our daily reserves of Post-Heaven Qi, and instead need to dip into our treasured Pre-Heaven Qi. Because this cranks up the adrenal hormones, it can feel amazing…. in the short term.
In the long term, it can dim our vitality, dampen energy, slow healing & repair, dull cognitive function and accelerate the processes we associate with aging. It is possible to move through life feeling vibrant at every stage. This is why we nourish life at the root – through a healthy Spleen – and avoid dipping into reserves.
The most important meal, which sets us up for the day, is breakfast. It aligns with the peak time to digest & absorb nutrients, in line with our circadian biology – brilliantly codified in our Meridian Clock.
The wisdom of the Meridian Clock
I love the overlap between modern circadian biology and the ancient Chinese wisdom of the “Meridian Clock”. This is a 24-hour cycle describing the circulation of Qi throughout the 12 meridians of the body, and highlights various points of our circadian rhythm that are optimal for specific organ functions and activities. It’s not surprising to me that the ancients had this cycle figured out thousands of years ago. The details which they identified are now being described by contemporary science in the forms of chronobiology, chronopharmacology and chronopathology, and it’s curious to note how diseases affecting certain organs align with the timings of this ancient clock. Learn more about this in the podcast episode
As you can see, the most potent time to digest and assimilate nutrients to power up our bodies is between 7am and 11am. You can take advantage of Stomach and Spleen Time to get the most from your meals. Eat between 7am and 9am, so that the Stomach can initiate digestion, in readiness for the Spleen – 9am to 11am – to absorb and assimilate all the goodness, for an energised and clear body-mind-soul.
Are you eating your meals during this optimum window for digestion and absorption of nutrients? Even if you choose to try intermittent fasting, you can align this with your powerful meridian clock – or circadian rhythm – to supercharge your metabolism and increase uptake of nutrients.
It’s all about balance & the “Middle Path”: the dance of Yin & Yang
In Chinese Medicine, we adhere to the Middle Path – balance in all things. So while regular meals to nourish our Qi are vital, so is rest for our digestion. Yin & Yang. Rest & action. We aim for a 12 hour “fast” after dinner, which is why we call breakfast “break-fast”. I talk more about this balance in the episode on fasting – and how we can have too much of a good thing (especially in these modern times of easy access to food)
But I’ve heard intermittent fasting, IF, is really great! How does this fit?
Yes, it can be! Giving our systems a rest from digesting is equally important – this is why I recommend at least a 12 hour break from food overnight.
Many of us may have heard the saying about “eat breakfast like a King, dinner like a pauper”. There is a lot of wisdom in this statement (which is also pure Chinese Medicine!). We can still practice intermittent fasting in alignment with the Meridian Clock. This can look like a bigger, nourishing meal at 9am to set you up for the day AND optimise energy and nourishment, tapering off to a lighter meal at the end of your window. Even if you opt for a lighter dinner at 6pm, you can still achieve a 14-15 hour fasting window, which can be sufficient for many people. The other benefits of tapering off digestive energy earlier is that we can drop into a deeper, more restorative sleep if our bodies aren’t busy working!
Want more simple, powerful health wisdom like this?
There are so many additional habits, tips & rituals we can incorporate daily to support our Spleen, for radiant Qi and vibrant “aging”. This is why I created the Radiant Energy Reset: a 28-day path of time-tested wisdom that guides you in nourishing YOU deeply. A real solution for those ready to ditch the fads & feel clear, energised and in control again. Backed by ancient wisdom, not wellness trends.
