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"Larks" are less at risk of obesity than "owls"
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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On the eve of the New Year holidays, a team of scientists from the University of California warns that overeating can harm health, upsetting the so-called "food clock."
But excessive hobby for food is not only on holidays. Work in the night shift or a long flight can also cause overeating.
Read also: How to avoid the New Year's overeating: practical advice
The work of the "food clock" is controlled by a combination of molecules and genes that interact with each other and act as a biochemical oscillator. This process supports the normal metabolic processes in the body.
American scientists conducted a study that showed how the work of these watches is carried out at the molecular level.
Specialists found that if a person changes eating habits, then the protein called PKCγ takes an active part in the functioning of the "food clock".
The researchers conducted an experiment in mice.
Regular food leads to the fact that the rodents wait for another dinner start to fuss, that is, to behave actively in anticipation of food. When the animals were given a portion of food at a time when they usually sleep, the "food clock" gradually also adjusted to this regime - the animals woke up in anticipation that they would be fed. But if the gene PKCγ was absent, the mice did not react to food and did not wake up to eat.
Read also: In the overeating, the brain is to blame
According to scientists, this study is very important for understanding the molecular basis of the process of obesity, diabetes, as well as other metabolic syndromes. This is because the frustrated "food clock" can be one of the components of the pathology that lies at the root of these disorders. In addition, the results can be an explanation of why "larks" are less at risk of gaining excess weight than "owls".
Understanding the molecular mechanism of the "food clock" and their desynchronization can be useful in developing effective methods of treating disorders that are associated with the shift work schedule, night meal syndrome, and the change of time zones.
Biological clock is not less complicated than usual. The interacting genes from which they are composed are switched on and off throughout the day so that a person can understand and feel the time.
The circadian oscillator regulates the biological clock in most organisms. He monitors the functioning and speed of human biological rhythms in accordance with the 24-hour cycle of day and night.
But apart from this, there are additional "clocks" that complement the "main", also work all day long. One of such additional "hours" are "food". They have an impact on the various processes occurring in the human body, and are not tied to any particular area of the brain.
To date, little is known about the work of the "food clock," and the fact that scientists were able to discover the molecular basis of this process will provide an opportunity to learn more, but this requires additional research in this area.