Timing is everything

Poor metabolic health due to a disrupted circadian rhythm (our internal sleep-waking cycle) may be mitigated, in part, by a well-timed, healthy diet, a recent research review suggests.

A collaboration by Plant & Food Research, University of Auckland and Dutch researchers found the timing of eating, as well as the type of food eaten, can influence the amount of different types of gut bacteria to our benefit, while poor sleep and eating nutritionally deficient food at odd times can alter them to our detriment.

Understanding how to use good sleep and meal timing and type to optimise healthy gut bacteria activity may provide scope for undoing some of the harm of circadian rhythm disturbances, for better metabolic health, the researchers say.