Chrono‐nutrition: From molecular and neuronal mechanisms to human epidemiology and timed feeding patterns. Issue 1 (10th December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Flanagan, Alan; Bechtold, David A.; Pot, Gerda K.; Johnston, Jonathan D.
• Other Names: Stehle Jörg H. guestEditor.; Hausmann Laura guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of neurochemistry. Volume 157:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 53
• Page End: 72
• Publication Date: 2020-12-10
• Subjects: circadian -- clock gene -- energy balance -- meal timing -- metabolism -- time‐restricted feeding; Neurochemistry -- Periodicals; 616.8042
• DOI: 10.1111/jnc.15246
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-3042

Abstract

Abstract: The circadian timing system governs daily biological rhythms, synchronising physiology and behaviour to the temporal world. External time cues, including the light‐dark cycle and timing of food intake, provide daily signals for entrainment of the central, master circadian clock in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), and of metabolic rhythms in peripheral tissues, respectively. Chrono‐nutrition is an emerging field building on the relationship between temporal eating patterns, circadian rhythms, and metabolic health. Evidence from both animal and human research demonstrates adverse metabolic consequences of circadian disruption. Conversely, a growing body of evidence indicates that aligning food intake to periods of the day when circadian rhythms in metabolic processes are optimised for nutrition may be effective for improving metabolic health. Circadian rhythms in glucose and lipid homeostasis, insulin responsiveness and sensitivity, energy expenditure, and postprandial metabolism, may favour eating patterns characterised by earlier temporal distribution of energy. This review details the molecular basis for metabolic clocks, the regulation of feeding behaviour, and the evidence for meal timing as an entraining signal for the circadian system in animal models. The epidemiology of temporal eating patterns in humans is examined, together with evidence from human intervention studies investigating the metabolic effects of morning compared to evening energy intake, and emerging chrono‐nutrition interventions such as time‐restricted feeding. Chrono‐nutrition may have therapeutic application for individuals with and at‐risk of metabolic disease and convey health benefits within the general population. Abstract : Chrono‐nutrition is the study of the relationship between temporal eating patterns, circadian rhythms, and metabolic health. Discordance between circadian rhythms and food intake may increase risk for metabolic disease. Timed feeding patterns may thus have implications for improving metabolic health. We provide a comprehensive review of chrono‐nutrition evidence from both animal and human models, including neural and molecular mechanisms of feeding behaviour, the epidemiology of meal patterns in humans, and evidence from interventions targeting timing of food intake for improving metabolic health.