Leading health expert Professor Tim Spector has unveiled a simple yet powerful dietary strategy that could significantly improve your gut health and strengthen your immune system.
The Overnight Gut Reset
Professor Spector, founder of the Zoe Health programme, recommends giving your digestive system a substantial break overnight. He specifically advises fasting for 12 to 14 hours between your last meal of the day and your first meal the next morning.
In an Instagram video outlining his five key health strategies, the nutritional science professor explained that this rest period allows your gut microbiome to work optimally. During this fasting window, beneficial microbes, including a specific bacterium called Akkermansia muciniphila, get to work cleaning the intestinal lining.
The Science Behind the Rest Period
"Try and have a break, so that you are eating within a 10 or 12-hour window so your microbes get a good night's sleep," Professor Spector advised in the clip. He elaborated further in the post's caption, stating this practice allows "specific microbes including Akkermansia muciniphila to clean up your gut lining and keep it healthy."
Akkermansia muciniphila, a mucin-degrading bacterium naturally present in our digestive tracts, has been linked in numerous studies to a reduced risk of obesity, diabetes, inflammation, and metabolic conditions.
On the Zoe platform, Professor Spector provides additional guidance, suggesting people "try to avoid or limit snacking, and aim to give your gut bugs time to rest overnight." He emphasises that this nightly "cleaning" process performed by a dedicated team of gut microbes is crucial for maintaining a robust gut and a healthy immune response.
Four More Ways to Boost Your Wellbeing
Alongside the overnight fast, Professor Spector shared four other essential tips for improving health:
- Eat 30 different plants per week to maximise dietary diversity.
- Consume a 'rainbow' of naturally colourful foods daily.
- Include a small amount of fermented food in your diet every day.
- Drastically reduce your intake of ultra-processed foods.
By giving your digestive system this crucial overnight respite, you enable these microscopic helpers to recover and perform their vital functions effectively, creating a foundation for long-term health.
