Fasting over 40 with Traditional Chinese Medicine

Fasting over 40 with Traditional Chinese Medicine

Energy Update

Fasting over 40 with Traditional Chinese Medicine

As we enter our 40s and beyond, the way we approach health practices, including fasting, needs to adapt to our body’s changing needs. For those experiencing menopause, intermittent fasting (IF) can offer powerful benefits when done with care and alignment to the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). TCM emphasizes the importance of nurturing kidney energy—the body’s reserve of vitality—to help regulate hormones, metabolism, and sleep, all of which are sensitive during menopause.

Why Gentle Fasting?

 

Research supports that when intermittent fasting is done gradually, it can help regulate blood sugar, improve heart health, reduce inflammation, and manage weight. IF triggers ketogenesis, where the body uses fats instead of glucose for fuel, and promotes a balanced insulin level and improved metabolism. However, as women age, particularly through menopause, intense fasting can deplete vital kidney energy, leading to symptoms like brain fog, poor sleep, heart palpitations, and sluggish metabolism. TCM offers a gentle approach to fasting that protects this energy reserve.

The TCM Perspective: Timing and Balance

In TCM, the kidney’s energy is seen as a precious resource that sustains our well-being. Instead of all-day fasting or skipping breakfast, TCM advocates for balance in eating times. 

Eating a substantial breakfast and a lighter dinner aligns with the TCM Meridian Clock, which highlights that digestive organs are most active in the morning (7–11am). TCM wisdom recommends “eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper,” allowing our bodies to fuel up during peak digestion hours while giving the liver and gallbladder a rest at night.

TCM views kidney energy as a reservoir.   

As we age, our reserves naturally decline, and menopause accelerates this process. 

So, while fasting can be beneficial, overdoing it can tax and deplete kidney energy. This is why fasting slowly and gently is so important. 

Whole day fasting is likely to stress the body and any stress produces adrenaline which triggers the flight or fight mechanism depleting kidney energy. In TCM, the kidneys are our energy foundation, supporting hormones, vitality, and sleep. Intense fasting can stress this system, worsening menopause symptoms like sleep disruptions, brain fog, and low energy. Instead, TCM encourages gentle fasting to protect kidney energy. It’s much better to build up your fasting time gradually and preferably overnight. 

Plus eating earlier in the day helps support the liver’s detoxification overnight. 

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), aligning meal timing with the body’s natural rhythms—such as eating the largest meals earlier in the day—helps clear the liver and optimise metabolism, reducing the risk of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). By avoiding late-night eating, we allow the liver to focus on detoxification overnight rather than digestion, which minimises fat accumulation in the liver. This balanced approach supports natural liver function, stabilises blood sugar, and promotes better metabolic health, making it an effective, gentle practice for weight loss and longevity.

A mindful eating schedule helps the body work with its natural rhythms, allowing us to fast gently overnight without disrupting the flow of energy or taxing the kidneys.

Starting Gentle Fasting with Chi Flow with Jo

In TCM, fasting from 8pm to 8am can allow your digestive organs a break while preserving kidney energy. The digestive organs are most active in the morning. The stomach is strongest from 7–9am, followed by the spleen from 9–11am so it makes no sense to skip breakfast and fast until dinner.  The spleen and stomach  thrive with regular early meal times rather than long, energy-draining fasts. 

Starting this January, Chi Flow with Jo will kick off a community program to practise intermittent fasting together in a supportive, nourishing way.

Could you commit to not eating after 8pm until 8am?  This is how we begin our gentle fasting cycle? Join our January program and by the end of February you will be experiencing improvements in sleep, energy, weight, and mental clarity with the support of a like-minded community. Together, let’s create lasting health and well-being through mindful, gentle fasting that honours our body’s natural needs.

Ready to transform your health?

Join us this January in Chi Flow with Jo and embrace a harmonious fasting routine that works with your body, not against it!

Until next time, stay balanced and be well.

Self-administered acupressure or Chinese Medicine is not a substitute for visits to qualified healthcare practitioners.

Knowing how to treat yourself and your loved ones with complimentary therapies like acupressure can be greatly beneficial and convenient. However, for serious and chronic conditions, you’ll want to visit an Shiatsu therapist / Acupuncturist or other qualified healthcare practitioner who can develop a treatment plan based on your unique medical history and combination of symptoms.  

The information provided should not be considered medical advice.

Inflammation and Blood Sugar Levels Post-Menopause

Inflammation and Blood Sugar Levels Post-Menopause

Ask Me Anything

Inflammation and Blood Sugar Levels Post-Menopause

In my most recent episode of Ask Me Anything, Shelley asked about post menopausal inflammation and high blood sugar peaks and troughs. This is actually something that comes up a lot in Chi Flow with Jo! Most of the participants are peri, mid, and post menopausal so often these symptoms occur.

This is why we do intermittent fasting together as a group in January and February.

Symptoms of joint pain, low energy, putting weight on around the middle, all tend to happen mid and post menopause. This is usually due to liver congestion which can happen from a lifetime of eating fried foods, eating late at night, and alcohol.

So how do we clear the liver so that blood flows well, we don’t have big hot flushes, we don’t suffer from insomnia, and we have good blood sugar levels?

One of the first things we can do in intermittent fasting is Qi Gong. We need to have a good exercise routine to retain muscle mass. This will help things from rocketing out of control and help your resting metabolic rate. So even when you are sitting down at a rest, your body is working well because you have good muscle mass. Gentle squats using the arms are an easy exercise. We don’t need to run a marathon, we just need to stay active.

Qi Gong/Acupoints

A great point is Liver 13. Liver 13 is on the edge of the ribs and you can massage and press into that area.

We do a movement in Qi Gong called Scratching Monkey, so scratch and massage into that point.

It’s going to help loosen the waist area, so we can move and massage the liver with those movements.

Late Night Snacks

Another way to give the liver a good cleanse is by not eating late at night. That is why we do intermittent fasting. It’s really important, especially as an older woman, not to over stress the body. When we do intermittent fasting and we are older, if we suddenly launch into not eating for large periods of time our hormones will go crazy and our kidneys will not be happy. Our kidneys manage the balance of our hormones in the body.

So we want to do this gradually and can do that by making our dinner time earlier and earlier.

We do this together in Chi Flow with Jo over the course of six weeks. We start with not eating from 8pm to 8am and gradually extend that time.

The Meridian Clock

The time for the liver on the Meridian clock is from 1am to 3am.

In that time the body needs to be detoxifying, resting, and restoring. If you’ve eaten at 11 or 10 at night, your body is still digesting and can’t do those things.

You need to give your body time to rest and clear the liver as the liver stores the blood and purifies it.

Food for the Liver

Colour: The Colour for the liver in Chinese Medicine is green. A green and kind of yellow colour. You’ll see if people have problems with their liver they have yellow eyes and if they have jaundice they have yellow skin. So that helps us to remember that it’s that yellow green that actually nourishes the liver. 

Flavour: The flavour for the liver is sour. You can use sour foods like cider vinegar or lemon in hot water to help cleanse the liver. Other foods would include vinaigrettes on green leafy vegetables.

A food that I really like is milk thistle. Be careful when taking milk thistle though, it has such an effect on the liver that if you’re having a blood test, you must tell the people giving you the test that you are taking milk thistle. I would recommend taking it every other month.

And remember you can’t be eating loads of burgers and chips and then think milk thistle will solve my problems!

Another thing that I really like is turmeric. Turmeric is a stimulant for the bile in the liver and the gallbladder. So taking plenty of fresh turmeric in your everyday diet is really good. Also dandelion root, burdock root, chicory, and bitter greens are really going to benefit the liver. 

We also don’t want to stress the body and one thing that does that is coffee. If you’re drinking lots of coffee and you’re wondering why you’re having all these hormonal problems, try changing that out for dandelion root coffee. Dandelion root coffee is a wonderfully bitter flavour that’s going to benefit the kidneys and will help detox and clear the liver. 

Why not join Chi Flow and see how easy our Intermittent Fasting programme really is?

Intermittent Fasting (IF) is more than just a trendy health practice—it’s a powerful tool to reset your body, mind, and spirit. By alternating periods of eating and fasting, IF can help balance blood sugar levels, support weight management, enhance mental clarity, and promote cellular repair. It’s a natural way to reduce inflammation, improve energy, and align with your body’s innate rhythms.

Ready to kickstart your journey?

Join Chi Flow with Jo’s 6-Week Intermittent Fasting Programme and embrace a healthier, more vibrant you. Together, we’ll combine the ancient wisdom of Qi Gong, mindful self-care, and balanced eating to elevate your New Year energy. Let’s make 2025 your year of transformation!

With Love and Chi,

Self-administered acupressure or Chinese Medicine is not a substitute for visits to qualified healthcare practitioners.

Knowing how to treat yourself and your loved ones with complimentary therapies like acupressure can be greatly beneficial and convenient. However, for serious and chronic conditions, you’ll want to visit an Shiatsu therapist / Acupuncturist or other qualified healthcare practitioner who can develop a treatment plan based on your unique medical history and combination of symptoms.  

The information provided should not be considered medical advice.