Time Duration Nutrition: The Future of Supplementation

Posted: October 7, 2024 | By: Shanon Peckham

Time Duration Nutrition

Just like you, your body can be picky about its food – especially when it comes to accepting supplemental nutrition. Some beneficial nutrients are more effective if taken on an empty stomach, some can energize you, and others will make you regret taking them late at night. So when is the best time of day to take your daily supplements??

Based on our research and everything we already know about nutrition, we recommend spreading your nutrient intake across the whole day to better support your health. We call this Time Duration Nutrition (TDN), and it can help you get even more out of your supplements. This practice makes sense if you think about it, too – most of us eat several meals a day instead of one big feast to help keep us consistently fueled. Likewise, taking all your vitamins and minerals at once can be wasteful, as many of the excess nutrients will be flushed away by your body since it can’t absorb them all at once.¹ Plus, the larger the dose, the more likely you’ll experience uncomfortable side effects, like nausea.²

To help make your holistic health journey easier and incorporate this beneficial approach to supplementation, we’ve created a comprehensive guide to help you navigate Time Duration Nutrition. Keep reading to learn more about which nutrients you should be prioritizing in the morning, afternoon, and evening for optimal health, longevity, and peace of mind.

Morning

While you sleep, your body is hard at work fixing up your various systems for the day ahead.³ Like any good construction crew, your cells need plenty of materials to grease the wheels, patch up damage, and haul away the rubble. That’s where vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients come in. Without the right balance, we risk developing deficiencies and feeling run down, which is not the way to start your day (or live younger, longer).

If you want to hit the ground running every morning, full-spectrum nutrition with a high-protein breakfast is the way to go! Our 90 For Life™ products give you the 90 essential nutrients our bodies need for optimal health, so you can support every body system when you need vitality the most. Vitamins, minerals, whole foods, pre-and-probiotics, and amino acids from our Beyond Tangy Tangerine® fuel your body at the cellular level; the omega fatty acids in our Ultimate EFA Plus™ support your heart, brain, and skin; Beyond Osteo FX™ keeps your bones and joints strong.⁴

Beyond foundational nutrition, you can address other morning needs as they arise with additional nutrients. Water soluble vitamins like B vitamins, which the body can’t produce on its own, can help boost your energy and metabolism in the morning. Bonus: for maximum absorption, you can even take them on an empty stomach!^5,6 Your body makes use of vitamin D and vitamin C overnight too, so you’ll want to replenish those in the morning as well.⁷ For a morning mood and energy boost, grab our adaptogen-enhanced instant coffee, Tazza Di Vita™ Café Ganoderma. Each cup of coffee is packed with health benefits!

Afternoon

It’s time to address the elephant in the room: the afternoon slows. We all know it well – it’s that period of time after lunch when you start to drown out the professor’s lecture or decide to scroll for a bit because you couldn’t possibly focus on that spreadsheet when you feel this sleepy. This so-called “afternoon slump” is a part of your natural circadian rhythm,^8,9 so there’s no avoiding it, but there are a few ways to keep the brain fog away!

First things first: avoid processed foods and sugars at lunch if you can – they’ll only make you crash harder. According to nutritionists, a mix of whole-grain carbohydrates, fiber, lean protein, and healthy fats will fuel you better while keeping your blood sugar from spiking too much.¹⁰About 30 minutes before you eat, take some prebiotics and probiotics to promote smooth, healthy digestion and help your microbiome flourish.^11,12,13 Lunchtime is also a good time to get potentially tummy-upsetting nutrients on board, such as vitamin C, magnesium, iron, fish oil (omegas), and minerals. Unlike your water-soluble B vitamins, these may make you nauseous if taken on an empty stomach (and won’t absorb any better, even if you do).¹⁴

After lunch, keep an eye on how you feel. Brain fog still creeping in? Grab a nootropic supplement for natural cognitive support (try: SMART Stiks™, Ultimate Memory FX™, or Renu iQ™). Nootropics can boost your energy levels, as well as your ability to focus and recall important details^15,16 – all useful for a productive study session or workday. Need extra energy for the gym or evening activities? Electrolytes and natural caffeine will be your friend. If you get the late afternoon munchies, grab a protein shake instead. And don’t forget to hydrate!

Evening

You’ve worked hard all day, and it shows. Your muscles ache from the gym, your brain can barely focus long enough to pick a show to watch, and the thought of getting up off the couch again seems impossible. The good news is: it’s finally time to relax, help your body recover, and wind down into a deep, restful sleep.

Research shows eating your last meal of the day at least four hours before you plan to go to bed is ideal for quality sleep, so we recommend eating earlier.¹⁷ Dinner is also a good time to get iron, zinc, magnesium, and amino acid supplements on board; these nutrients are linked to longer sleep duration, better relaxation, and muscle recovery.^18,19,20,21 After dinner, make sure to avoid caffeine and alcohol, which can keep you up past your bedtime.²² Likewise, avoid Coenzyme Q10, vitamin B12, vitamin D, Copper, and vitamin K, which may also interrupt your beauty sleep.^18,23 And even though it’s tempting, don’t go back to the kitchen for late-night snacks – this will start you down a slippery slope of weight gain and sleep disruption,^24,25 which will likely make you grouchy and less healthy in the long term.

For sleep support, we recommend our Beyond Sleep System. This special sleep supplement kit provides everything you need to relax, recover, and rest deeply overnight. Take the H.G.H Amino Acid Complex and Osteo-Mag around dinnertime; these will help your body relax and give you the other nutrients your body needs to recover overnight. When you’re ready to go to sleep, grab one or two of our Beyond Sleep Gummies; each one contains soothing plant melatonin, chamomile, tryptophan, and GABA, all of which can help you sleep more deeply and wake up feeling refreshed.²⁶

A sneak peek into The Future of Supplementation

As you’ve learned today, the timing of your supplementation is key to getting the most out of each nutrient and addressing your health needs throughout the day. What if we told you we’ve been working on something special, a new way to address your health around the clock?

3.0 Rise & Restore™ is unlike any of the nutritional blends we’ve created before. It provides the same foundational nutrition as your favorite, reliable Beyond Tangy Tangerine, but with a more targeted approach: one supplement for the morning and one for the evening. This unique dual system uses Time Duration Nutrition to ensure the optimal amount of time-of-day specific nutrition is absorbed and utilized by your body at the right time.

Rise helps you start the day off right with key vitamins, minerals, natural caffeine, nootropics, adaptogens, and more, supporting morning vitality, clarity, and overall health. Restore helps revitalize you at the end of the day with cornerstone nutrition, antioxidants, amino acids, pre-and-probiotics, and more, supporting full body recovery and overall health in the afternoon and evening. Try it today!

Before Trying TDN: Make sure to check in with your healthcare provider to make sure supplements are the right fit for you! And always feel free to adjust your dose and time of day if something different works better for you.