Eating Rewards the Gears of the Clock. (May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mendoza, Jorge
• Is Part Of: Trends in endocrinology and metabolism. Volume 30:Number 5(2019)
• Page Start: 299
• Page End: 311
• Publication Date: 2019-05
• Subjects: circadian -- eating -- hedonic -- metabolic -- suprachiasmatic -- clock genes; Endocrinology -- Periodicals; Metabolism -- Periodicals; Metabolism; 616.4
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tem.2019.03.001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1043-2760

Abstract

Abstract : Eating behavior is regulated by metabolic and hedonic brain networks, which interact with each other to balance the physiological regulation of hunger and satiety. The daily balance of this regulation is controlled by the central circadian clock. Importantly, metabolic and reward properties of food impact the functioning of circadian clocks, altering the oscillatory activity of the molecular clockwork and circadian rhythms. However, when feeding (metabolic or reward) is timed, the whole circadian system is entrained. Furthermore, besides synchronizing the clock, the timing of both metabolic and reward eating might be crucial for health, to improve circadian physiology, as well as to treat metabolic (e.g., diabetes, obesity) and neurological diseases (e.g., mental, neurodegenerative). Highlights: Eating behavior is centrally regulated by metabolic, hedonic, and circadian pathways which determine the quantity, quality, and time of food intake. By contrast, time-restricted eating (TRE) is a powerful cue to synchronize body and brain clocks, including, under certain feeding conditions, the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the main mammalian brain timekeeper. The central mechanisms to entrain the SCN by feeding are dependent mainly, but not exclusively, on metabolic hypothalamic (orexins) and hedonic mesolimbic (dopamine) molecules that impact the clockwork. Therefore, diet components that reach and trigger metabolic and hedonic brain changes might favor clock synchronization by TRE. However, when eating is not timed, and it occurs at the rest phase of the organism, metabolic consequences (e.g., obesity, diabetes) or behavioral eating disorders (e.g., compulsive eating, binge eating) may appear. Thus, TRE aligned with the sleep–wake cycle might help to improve physiology and evade negative consequences in health induced by circadian disruptors (e.g., light pollution, social jetlag, shift work).