Daytime eating prevents internal circadian misalignment and glucose intolerance in night work

This 2021 study states that night work increases the risk of developing diabetes. The typical daily behaviors of night workers do not align with the central circadian “clock”. This internal misalignment between central and peripheral circadian rhythms are likely to impair glucose tolerance. It is not yet known if proper circadian alignment of eating can prevent this glucose intolerance. This study simulated night work and assessed circadian rhythm before and after nighttime or daytime eating. The researchers measured body temperature (central circadian rhythm) as well as glucose and insulin concentrations (peripheral circadian rhythm). Nighttime eating led to misalignment between central and peripheral (glucose) endogenous circadian rhythms and impaired glucose tolerance. On the other hand, strictly daytime eating only prevented glucose intolerance. These results demonstrate a behavioral approach to preventing glucose intolerance among shift workers. [NPID: shift workers, shift work, nighttime work, circadian rhythm, chrononutrition, glucose intolerance, diabetes]

Year: 2021

Reference: Chellappa, S. L., Qian, J., Vujovic, N., Morris, C. J., Nedeltcheva, A., Nguyen, H., Rahman, N., Heng, S. W., Kelly, L., Kerlin-Monteiro, K., Srivastav, S., Wang, W., Aeschbach, D., Czeisler, C. A., Shea, S. A., Adler, G. K., Garaulet, M., & Scheer, F. (2021). Daytime eating prevents internal circadian misalignment and glucose intolerance in night work. Science advances, 7(49), eabg9910. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abg9910