Fasting & the Migrating Motor Complex

✨Have you heard of the Migrating Motor Complex (MMC)?🍽️

Our digestive tract uses wave-like muscle contractions to sweep the digestive tract clean. This process removes dead cells, food and bacteria left over in our digestive tract and has a really important role in keeping our digestion in balance. It is important for preventing the overgrowth of bacteria in our gut, which can lead to unpleasant symptoms like bloating, excess gas, pain, diarrhoea and constipation.

So have you ever noticed your stomach feeling not quite right after you have spent all day grazing? The MMC takes 90-120 minutes to complete a cycle and it also requires us to fast for activation, otherwise the focus of the gut will be on digestion rather than cleaning.

So to allow the MMC to fully benefit you, try leaving 3-5 hours between meals with no snacking and make use of an easy overnight fast between dinner and breakfast. This will ensure that your body is able to cleanse and reset to the best of its' ability and you may notice a really beneficial effect on your digestion.