Postponing meals may delay your body clock

IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT REGULAR JET LAG AND SHIFT WORK HAVE ADVERSE EFFECTS ON THE BODY

Are you one of those who postpone their meal-times? Well, beware; it may delay one of the body’s clocks.

The human body runs according to a roughly 24-hour cycle, controlled by a “master” clock in the brain and peripheral clocks in other parts of the body that are synchronised according to external cues, including light. The findings suggest that meal times synchronise internal clocks that control rhythms of blood sugar concentration.

“It has been shown that regular jet lag and shift work have adverse effects on the body, including metabolic disturbances,” said lead investigator Jonathan Johnston from the University of Surrey. At least one of those clocks can be reset. “Altering meal times can reset the body clocks regulating sugar metabolism in a drug free way. This will help us design feeding regimes to reduce the risk of developing health problems such as obesity and cardiovascular disease in people with disturbed circadian rhythms,” Johnston added. For the study, the team enrolled ten healthy young men in a 13-day experiment where they ate three meals at 5-hour intervals.

Each participant started with a meal time set to 30 minutes after waking, and after getting used to eating early, they switched to a meal served five hours later. eating early, they switched to a meal served five hours later for six days. Surprisingly, the delay in meal times did not affect insulin or triglyceride (fat) levels in the blood indicating that blood glucose rhythms can be governed by separate circadian clocks to these other key aspects of rhythmic metabolism, the researchers said.

PHOTO: ISTOCK