When should I eat: A circadian view on food intake and metabolic regulation

Abstract

The circadian clock is a hierarchical timing system regulating most physiological and behavioral functions with a period of approximately 24 h in humans and other mammalian species. The circadian clock drives daily eating rhythms that, in turn, reinforce the circadian clock network itself to anticipate and orchestrate metabolic responses to food intake. Eating is tightly interconnected with the circadian clock and recent evidence shows that the timing of meals is crucial for the control of appetite and metabolic regulation. Obesity results from combined long‐term dysregulation in food intake (homeostatic and hedonic circuits), energy expenditure, and energy storage. Increasing evidence supports that the loss of synchrony of daily rhythms significantly impairs metabolic homeostasis and is associated with obesity. This review presents an overview of mechanisms regulating food intake (homeostatic/hedonic) and focuses on the crucial role of the circadian clock on the metabolic response to eating, thus providing a fundamental research axis to maintain a healthy eating behavior.

Tyrosine Hydroxylase Knockdown at the Hypothalamic Supramammillary Nucleus Area Induces Obesity and Glucose Intolerance

“…Nonetheless, circadian rhythms of peripheral fuel metabolism, particularly in the liver, are influenced by both timed feeding stimulus and neuroendocrine input signals that derive from the SCN network [70,71]. Misalignment of the daily feeding and SCN-driven activity rhythms (feeding outside the normal activity cycle) is well established to induce MS in animals [72][73][74][75] and humans [76][77][78][79][80][81]; however, what causes an internal drive to eat outside the normal feeding cycle remains a mystery. The present study findings in conjunction with previous study results demonstrating SuMN dopaminergic circadian input activity to the SCN [11] suggest that SuMN dopaminergic activity somehow participates in the regulation and coordination of both SCN circadian organization and output activity as well as CNS centers that regulate the daily feeding rhythm to modulate peripheral fuel metabolism.…”

Nutritional health

“…11 The circadian system is a major regulator of metabolic health. Current studies focus on illuminating the underlying mechanisms of the metabolic benefits of time-restricted eating, 12,13 a so-called chrononutritive intervention whose effects are not limited to metabolic syndrome-associated pathologies but also, for example, autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. 14 Pregnancy has been classified as a nutritionally sensitive time, during which the prevention of metabolic disease benefits both the expectant mother and reduces chronic disease risk for the child later in life.…”

“…The circadian system is a major regulator of metabolic health. Current studies focus on illuminating the underlying mechanisms of the metabolic benefits of time‐restricted eating, 12,13 a so‐called chrononutritive intervention whose effects are not limited to metabolic syndrome‐associated pathologies but also, for example, autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis 14 …”

Time for circadian medicine

“…Indeed, TRE shows significant improvement of metabolic parameters not only in mice, but also in humans, which also occurs when strict attention is paid to not reduce caloric intake. In this special issue, the interplay between the circadian clock and metabolism as well as the potential of timed nutritional cues to improve metabolic health is covered by several review articles, for example, in the context of non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease, 25 multiple sclerosis, 21 obesity 26 and intensive care unit patients 22 . In addition, exercise as a zeitgeber and its effect on myokine and microRNA release in type 2 diabetes patients is discussed 27 …”