Everyone who eats gluten-free, listen up!
We’re not giving you your bread back but there is a way that you can stop struggling with constipation and enjoy some things that you currently consider no-no’s. I know it sounds wild, but just wheat (I mean wait!)
It turns out, the success of our gut (we define “success” as fewer farts, less bloat, less constipation, etc.) doesn’t only have to do with the food we eat. In fact, it has everything to do with the light we feed ourselves. Light signaling (from both natural and artificial light) has an enormous effect on how our gut behaves. Poor circadian health can cause intestinal permeability (leaky gut), low stomach acid and weak enzymatic function.
Let’s take a Squint.
The Brain-Gut Connection: A Circadian Story
Most of us have heard about the “brain-gut connection”. They are indeed connected, most notably by the light they need to share. Our brain – and our gut – receive light signals that work together to help our digestion work properly. Our 24-hour biological clock in our brain (our “master clock”) rules every cell in our body, including the cells in our gut lining. Both our brain and our gut, together, rely on the sun to keep our 24-hour clock running smoothly.
Here’s how it works: Our brain is the body’s central timekeeper. The SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus) – through the light signals we provide through our eyes – tells our brain what time it is, and every organ and cell in our body takes its cue from that, including the gut. Each gut cell has its own little internal clock that’s synced to the brain. But if the light we’re exposed to lacks circadian rhythm, our gut cells get confused. And it turns into a vicious cycle of all sorts of problems like gluten sensitivity, SIBO, Crohn’s, colitis, bloating, you name it.
Consistent natural light exposure, particularly during {early morning sunlight} hours, provides important UVA wavelengths that influence serotonin production. Serotonin, a neurotransmitter produced in the gut, helps move food through our digestive system. No morning light, no gut motility. No bueno.
The truth is, if you sync your gut with the sun – and nature’s circadian rhythms – your digestive issues may become more manageable. No elimination diet required (who can even track that stuff anyway??)
Gut Healing Starts in the Dark
So, before you say “I’ve got this!” you better check your light exposure at night. Chronic blue light at night (phone scrolling/tv) with not enough natural sunlight during the day? That’s a double recipe for digestive disaster.
The story of your gut health today actually started last night—in total darkness. Cell division, needed for repair of “leaky gut” occurs at night, in the absence of light. At night, your body repairs itself (thanks to the melatonin you created with that daytime sun!) Melatonin is critical to the recycling and repair of your cells while you sleep. Melatonin basically runs your dishwasher at night (in your body). It’s the Cascade that cleans and heals your cells (including your gut cells) and gets them ready for a new day. If your circadian rhythm is good, you wake up with clean dishes (clean cells), ready to eat and actually enjoy food! If you’ve been staying up late, glued to your phone, your circadian rhythm is likely off and your gut’s not getting the recovery time it needs. You start your day with dirty dishes. It’s gross, and you feel gross and keep blaming the avocado toast you ate for breakfast.
Netflix Love Child
For me personally, I would bloat after a meal. Like, not a little bloating, but the big bloating that you only show your closest friends—the “Oh my gosh, I look four months pregnant?!” kind of bloat. For a while I thought it was funny. Even normal, post-meal. But that’s not normal! And don’t convince yourself it is.
No matter how “perfect” a diet may be (gluten free, vegan, carnivore, paleo), nothing will fully heal digestive inflammation (SIBO, bloating) until your circadian rhythm is synched in your body. No amount of probiotics or supplements will help unless the sun is part of your solution.
Stop counting the calories of your TV snacks and take account of your blue light at night. Leaky gut, gut dysbiosis, GERD, SIBO—they’re all signs of circadian disruption. No matter how “perfect” your diet is, your gut won’t fully heal and repair until you sync your body with the rhythms of natural light. Chronic blue light at night and a lack of sunrise/morning sun will exacerbate your gut issues, no matter what you eat.
All that late-night binge watching? It’s purging your gut health. And, I’m not even talking about those midnight snacks. I’m referring to that next episode. You know, the one you have to watch because it’s the finale of the best season ever. I’m afraid finding your conclusion to your show may be finding an ending to your gut motility. It’s what further disrupts your circadian rhythm and makes you the star of your very own unpleasant gut episodes (a never ending season).
You’ve Got This!
The good news? Your gut lining regenerates every 2-5 days. That is shorter than any diet you have ever tried! The catch? Gut restoration and repair can only happen when your circadian signals are in sync with natural day and night cycles. Your gut gets its repair signals from melatonin and darkness at night. When those signals are interrupted by the blue light of your phone, computer, tablet or TV, you’re slowing down the healing process.
Fortunately, your gut knows how to regenerate itself (spoiler alert: circadian rhythm), and you can make Squintessential changes to your routine that will help your gut do just that! (Check out of GUT CHECKLIST) That means giving your gut the right cues from light. Our digestive tract is primed and ready to receive, assimilate and digest nutrients while there is daylight (sunrise to sunset) and primed to heal and restore our gut lining (in the darkness of night). Get morning sun, eat during sunlight hours and avoid artificial light at night.
Thank you for taking a Squint with us! Don’t forget to print out our Gut Health checklist to stay on top of your light routine.