Breakfast [in the morning] strengthens circadian rhythms and reduces postprandial glucose excursion after lunch (Jakubowicz et al., 2017)
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Posted in angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, Dopamine, sex, Sun, vasopressin
Tagged circadian rhythm, diet, nutrition
Worded another way, we strive for optimal, not merely survival.
We’ve seen it time & time again in various experimental models. Most recently in Antelope Ground Squirrels and Mice with disrupted master circadian clocks. In humans, we see mood disorders, impaired nutrient partitioning, increased cancer risks, et cetera, et cetera.
Posted in angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, Dopamine, melatonin, Sun, Vitamin D
Tagged circadian rhythm, nutrition
Hey fam, remember this? Sunlight and the circadian rhythms in your skin
Tl;dr: During the day, when potential DNA damage from UV light is higher than at night, the circadian rhythms in your skin upregulate expression of enzymes which protect & repair DNA. They also downregulate proliferation because the last thing you want is for a harmful DNA mutation to be rapidly spread. All of this thanks to a robust circadian rhythm.
NEW STUDY
In general, LIGHT entrains the central circadian clock and FOOD entrains peripheral clocks. That’s why we try to get a big breakfast and go outdoors in the morning (or mimic this as closely as possible).
And from the aforementioned blog post, there is a bona fide circadian rhythm in skin, too. Well it appears this one, similar to other peripheral tissues, is regulated in part by FOOD but is also influenced by LIGHT.
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Posted in angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, Dopamine, melatonin, pair-feeding, sex, sleep, Sun, Vitamin D
Tagged body composition, circadian rhythm, nutrition, obesity
That’s basically everything.
Aging predisposes you to pretty much every single disease. We all die eventually, and no one wants the last 10 years to be low quality of life. We used to say “healthspan,” now people say they “want to die as young as possible, as old as possible.” That is, to live a long life but remain healthy and active until the end.
Couple recent studies suggest a robust circadian clock (both centrally & peripherally) may be the key.
LIGHT is the primary zeitgeber which entrains the central clock. Food entrains the peripheral clock. Both in the morning, to co-entrain both clocks and prevent desynchrony.
DARKNESS and decreased food intake in the evening is just as important. Being young helps, too (von Gall and Weaver, 2006)
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Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, Dopamine, melatonin, sex, sleep, Sun, vasopressin, Vitamin D
Tagged circadian rhythm
We’ve seen that meal size and frequency can influence circadian rhythms, but here are some examples of how nutrients can, too.
Circadian phase advance: going to bed earlier, waking up earlier. Blue blockers at sunset, bright light at sunrise. Flying east. Autumn.
Circadian phase delay: staying up late, sleeping in. Flying west. Spring. Using smart phones, tablets, and iPads in bed at night. Light pollution.
Relative to adolescents, infants and children are circadian phase advanced. This is part of what is fueling the movement to delay high school start times. Kids are mentally better prepared to work later in the day. With early school start times, performance is down in the morning, but they kill it on video games after school. Delaying start time by an hour won’t totally fix this, but could help.
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Posted in chronopharmacology, circadian, diet, Energy balance, insulin, Ketosis, melatonin, Protein, sleep
Tagged body composition, carbs, circadian rhythm, diet, fat, ketosis, melatonin, protein
Scheduled Meals for Circadian Entrainment
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Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, Dopamine, sleep, Sun, vasopressin
Tagged circadian rhythm, diet, energy balance, insulin, ketosis, melatonin, nutrition
Suggested pre-reading: Metabolism at night
Recently, when the topic of breakfast came up, I got something like this: “correlation isn’t causation, and anyway, it’s because people aren’t eating bacon & eggs at night, they’re having cake & alcohol.”
OK, you can’t say “correlation isn’t causation” and then suggest a cause, literally, in the same sentence.
But anyway, yeah, that actually is a plausible cause. Cake & alcohol are mainly consumed at night.
Also, metabolism is gimped in the evening: 1) skeletal muscle insulin resistance; 2) adipose tissue insulin sensitivity; and 3) impaired diet-induced thermogenesis.
Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, diet, Dopamine, Energy balance, melatonin, muscle, Protein, sex, sleep, strength, Sun, vasopressin, Vitamin D
Tagged calories proper, carbs, circadian rhythm, energy balance, energy expenditure, melatonin, nutrition, Paleo, protein
*if you’re going to carb, that is
The Sofer study was uniquely insightful in that they compared 3 carb-rich meals per day with the same amount of carbs but restricted to 1 meal. Both groups ate 3 times per day. Tl;dr: one carb meal is modestly better than three even when total carbs are controlled. Since the carb-meal happened to be dinner, #fakenews reported that “carbs at night” are superior… but we saw right through that – the real conclusion was carb frequency not carb timing.
Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, diet, Dietary fat, Dopamine, fertility, melatonin, Protein, sex, sleep, Sun, Vitamin D
Tagged calories proper, carbs, circadian rhythm, diet, melatonin, Paleo
Artificial light at night, crappy sleep, and skipping breakfast are major contributors to poor circadian rhythms. Some bro’s insist WHAT you eat is infinitely more important than WHEN you eat. I beg to differ, at least in part – nix the refined & processed foods and it doesn’t really matter if you prefer low fat or low carb (P<0.05). Evidence: Hunger-free diet(s).
Exhibit A. On the other hand, feed two people identical diets but induce circadian disruption in one and whammo – big difference in outcome.
Significantly less fat loss and more muscle loss in the circadian disrupted group.
Interindividual variability? Yes. Statistical significance? YES.
Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, diet, Dopamine, Energy balance, fertility, insulin, Ketosis, Leptin, melatonin, sleep, Sun, vasopressin, Vitamin D
Tagged body composition, calories proper, carbs, circadian rhythm, diet, energy balance, insulin, ketogenic, melatonin, processed food, protein
Good idea? Bad idea? … a bit of a rant
Some gurus swear by the “only eat when hungry” mantra. I’m neutral on the issue. In my opinion, it can work for people who are good planners because if you wait until you’re hungry and haven’t planned or prepared a meal yet, then it might be a while until you finally get to eat. Maybe you’re an hour from home: unlucky => by the time you start cooking, you’re famished and end up overeating. So you try to repent by skipping breakfast the following morning but fall into the same trap. Of course, however, it’s not gonna be like this for everyone.
Posted in Advanced nutrition, diet, insulin, Ketosis, muscle, Protein, strength, TPMC
Tagged calories, calories proper, carbs, circadian rhythm, diet, energy expenditure, insulin, ketogenic, ketones, ketosis, melatonin, protein