Daily rhythms and the organ clock
Daily rhythms, meals and rest — which clock?
“When?” can be as interesting a question as “what?”. Sleep, light and meals belong to the rhythm of a day. Those connections deserve curiosity and discernment.
Some traditions use a map of time intervals associated with organs, often called the organ clock. Its peaks and troughs do not mean that organs switch on and off at fixed hours, and the time of a symptom does not diagnose an illness.
From a diagram to meal times
This traditional map cannot establish universal meal times or hours when everyone should avoid food. Work schedules, sleep, medicines and health conditions matter. Night workers and people with daytime routines bring different questions. Discuss individual advice with a doctor or appropriately qualified nutrition professional.
A research reference
Circadian rhythms studied in biology influence sleep, hormone release, appetite and digestion, among other functions. They are distinct from the traditional two-hour organ timetable.
NIGMS / NIH — Circadian Rhythms introduces the biological research.
D1 — Nurturing · D2 — Body Pampering · Yin and Yang