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Biorhythm Time shifts in meals can reset the internal clock
Many people have problems after longer flights and suffer from jet lag. Similar difficulties also occur with shiftworkers when the body has to adapt to changing working hours. Researchers found that shifting meals can also affect the body's internal clock.
The scientists from the University of Surrey in England found in their study that the internal clock of the human body can be influenced by a shift in the meals consumed. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "Current Biology".
So-called jet lag or ever-changing shifts at work can make people feel tired, exhausted and powerless. The body first has to adapt to the new time zone or the new working hours. Physicians found that changes in meal time can contribute to easier adaptation. (Image: Jeanette Dietl / fotolia.com) What is the biological clock of the body?
The biological clock of the body (circadian rhythm) is controlled by a so-called master clock, which is present in the human brain and is referred to as a suprachiasmatic nucleus, explain the scientists.
What do the so-called peripheral clocks do??
Various other clocks in the human body are referred to as peripheral clocks. Among them, we essentially understand molecules in cells that respond to signals from the master clock, the experts explain. It helps to control certain metabolic functions in those parts of the body. For example, these clocks in the liver and pancreas can affect blood sugar levels. This can lead to problems with the metabolism of a person when peripheral clocks are out of sync with the master clock.
Light and melatonin have little direct effect on the metabolic rhythms
Researchers already knew that the influence of light at the right time or the use of melatonin supplements could help to adjust the master clock in the brain to new time zones, said author Jonathan Johnston of the University of Surrey. But light and melatonin may have little direct effect on the metabolic rhythms that are controlled by the body's peripheral clocks, the expert adds. In other words, although a person can adjust their inner master clock to a new time zone by exposing themselves to light at the right time, it does not immediately adjust all the clocks in the person's body, scientists say.
The time of meals has a big influence on the blood sugar level
The peripheral clocks that control the blood sugar level also affect how much sugar is taken from the blood and how much is released back into the blood. The way the body processes a meal varies over the day, says Johnston. For example, if a person eats late at night, the blood sugar level will increase and stay elevated for a longer time. This effect can also work in the opposite direction. Changing the time of day when we eat our meals shifts the so-called circadian rhythm of blood sugar levels, explain the scientists.
Physicians supervised the sleep of volunteers over a period of 13 days
To study the effects of the timing of meals on the circadian rhythm, the researchers studied ten healthy men over a period of 13 days. So they wanted to observe how the subjects responded to different diet plans. The men carried monitors to collect data on their sleep, the researchers say.
When were the meals taken in the experiment??
During the first three days of the study, the men received breakfast 30 minutes after waking up, followed by lunch five hours later and dinner five hours later. All meals had the same number of calories and the same amounts of carbohydrates, fat and protein, the authors of the study explain.
Subjects had to endure 37 hours of sleep deprivation
After three days of this type of diet, participants were asked not to sleep for 37 hours. During this time, the lights in the laboratory were kept dark, so the men did not experience the light changes that could signal their biological clocks time. Nurses woke the subjects when they began to doze off, says Johnston.
After sleep deprivation, the second meal plan began
After this period, the scientists started a new eating plan. This time around, the participants were not allowed to eat within five hours of waking up, the scientists say. This meal plan was used for a six-day period, then the 37-hour period of sleep deprivation was repeated.
Delayed eating plan leads to changes in the rhythms of the blood sugar level
After the meal plan was postponed for five hours, the rhythms of their blood sugar levels were postponed by five hours, explains author Johnston. The researchers found that in addition to the observed changes in the blood sugar level, many other components of men's circadian rhythms did not change. For example, there were no changes in the normal increases and decreases of melatonin (the sleep hormone) or cortisol (the stress hormone).
Easily adjust to new time zones or work schedules through your meals
The results suggest that the changes observed after the late meal plan were due to changes in peripheral clocks and not to the so-called master clock, which controls hormone release, say the authors. The new findings suggest that you can adapt to a new time zone or work schedule by changing your meal time. (As)