How to Sleep Better, Boost Gut Health and Get More Energy (#306)

Rangan Chatterjee opens on the complaints that bring most people to circadian science without knowing its name. Broken sleep, flat energy through the afternoon, digestion that never quite settles. The conversation traces each one back to timing rather than to content.

The gut section is the distinctive part. The digestive system runs on its own daily rhythm, and Dr Panda's group has studied those rhythms down to the gut microbiome, showing that the composition and activity of gut bacteria shift across the day and respond to when food arrives. Giving the gut a predictable overnight break changes how it behaves, which is why a consistent eating window often improves digestive symptoms before it changes anything on the scale. Sleep and energy follow the same logic. Both are outputs of a clock that is either well set or not.

Chatterjee's clinical instinct keeps the discussion grounded in what a patient could plausibly change, and the episode ends on where to start. A good listen for anyone troubleshooting symptoms rather than chasing optimisation.