How Our Body Regenerates At Night
To facilitate the different processes that the body carries out at night, it is important not to overload it. Having a light dinner is a good option, among others that we will discuss below.
Traditional Chinese medicine explains its vision of how the body works at night and at what time each organ regenerates. This can be very helpful in understanding some health problems, as well as preventing and treating others in the most natural way.
In this article, we discuss all these secrets so that we can use them to our advantage. Although preventing problems such as overweight, constipation, insomnia or fatigue does not depend only on how a person sleeps, it is good to have as much information as possible.
Processes that occur in the body during rest
According to traditional Chinese medicine, the hours of maximum energy concentration during the night for each organ are as follows:
- 23 to 1 hours: gallbladder.
- 1 to 3 hours: liver.
- 3 to 5 hours: lung.
- 5 to 7 hours: large intestine.
- 7 to 9 hours: stomach.
Here we explain how each organ regenerates and how we can help you prevent its imbalance.
Gallbladder
The gallbladder is an organ that works together with the liver to purify the body and is responsible for storing bile. When you can’t work properly, you tend to overload yourself. Sometimes gallstones are created which can eventually cause them to block. In some cases, surgery is done to remove it.
Taking into account that the gallbladder works during the middle of the night according to traditional Chinese medicine, the suggestion that at this time we have already done the digestion seems logical. In this way, we will not interfere in the rebalancing process of this organ.
That is why it is recommended to have an early dinner, or have a light dinner. Consuming too much fat would overload this organ, according to Mayo Clinic experts.
Another alternative to traditional medicine is to put a hot water bottle on the ribs on the right side. Thus, in theory, both the liver and the gallbladder are helped in these early hours of the morning.
Finally, popular beliefs also link the gallbladder to short-term decision-making and stress. Therefore, it is possible to suffer insomnia easily at this time, either due to a heavy or late dinner or due to an excess of worry or anguish. Notably, there is no scientific evidence to support this relationship anyway.
The liver, key in the body
The liver is a vital organ, capable of self-regeneration, which cleanses the body and contributes to many vital processes. Likewise, it is usually one of the most overloaded and unbalanced organs according to traditional medicine, in part due to the consequences of emotions on it.
Since their hours are 1 to 3 hours, we can say that from 23 to 3 hours the gallbladder and liver will be “working”. Therefore, they are very important hours to be resting, without strong emotions and without eating any food, following the theories mentioned above.
Instead, we could take some bitter infusion to favor this process. The following are some alternatives:
- Boldo: This herb has been used for infusions for a long time, thanks to the digestive properties attributed to it.
- Milk thistle: traditional medicine attributes properties to improve digestion.
- Dandelion – Studies like this one from the Journal of Ethnopharmacology cite it as a beneficial herb for treating liver problems.
When the liver is not healthy, you may not have a good rest. Research like this one from 2017 points to the close relationship between these two factors. Therefore, we must take it into account to avoid cases of exhaustion, fatigue, insomnia, irritability, etc. And the reverse also: good sleep is essential for liver health.
Lungs
For 3 to 5 hours, the body’s energy is concentrated in the lungs, according to traditional Chinese medicine. In addition, it is a schedule that, according to popular beliefs, has been traditionally used for meditation techniques.
In order for the lungs to regenerate correctly, this trend of traditional medicine recommends that the bedroom have good ventilation and purified air. A slightly open window and some air-purifying plants could help with this.
The large intestine
According to traditional Chinese medicine, the ideal time to get up each day is between 5 and 7 in the morning. It is also the best time to prevent constipation, as this is when the intestine begins to work.
Stomach
Finally, the best time to have breakfast would be between 7 and 9 o’clock, just when the stomach concentrates more energy, following the same flow of medicine.
According to these beliefs, it is a good time to prepare a large breakfast, which can contain natural juices or fruits, cereal, nuts, healthy fats, etc.
At first you may not be very hungry at this time. But it is possible to get used to it little by little and see how the stomach reacts positively to this first meal of the day.
Important note
Undoubtedly, the point of view of traditional medicine is very interesting and has led to various investigations to see if, indeed, the associations it establishes are fulfilled in real life.
As much scientific evidence is still lacking, it is not possible to affirm that everything that it indicates is given as it is postulated. However, this does not mean that it cannot be taken into account to contrast the information that is available.
