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Circadian system, not sleep behavior patterns, influence diet-induced thermogenesis
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A short-term change in circadian cycle of healthy adults is not likely to increase body weight caused by changes in diet-induced thermogenesis, according to research in Obesity.
In a randomized, crossover sleep study with periods of circadian alignment and misalignment, researchers found that an evening decrease in diet-induced thermogenesis, defined as the amount of energy expenditure above the resting metabolic rate following food consumption, was not related to the sleep/wake behavioral cycle, but was primarily influenced by the endogenous circadian system.
“Early [diet-induced thermogenesis] was not significantly influenced by the behavioral cycle, i.e., comparing breakfast time with dinner time, independent of endogenous circadian phase,” Christopher J. Morris, PhD, an associated physiologist in the division of sleep and circadian disorders, departments of medicine and neurology, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues wrote. “These findings suggest that the morning/evening difference in early [diet-induced thermogenesis] is caused primarily by the endogenous circadian system and not by the behavioral cycle.”
Morris and colleagues analyzed data from 13 healthy, nonsmoking and medication-free adults (mean age, 29 years; 6 men; mean BMI, 25 kg/m²). Participants had no shift work experience in the preceding 3 years. For two, 8-day laboratory visits, participants completed 3 baseline days followed by either repeated simulated night shifts (including 12-hour inverted behavioral cycles) or repeated simulated daytime shifts. Participants received identical meals at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. in the night shift and day shift groups. Researchers derived energy expenditure from indirect calorimetry data; early diet-induced thermogenesis was calculated by subtracting resting energy expenditure from the average of the two postprandial energy expenditure assessments (completed 30 and 90 minutes following the start of each meal).
Researchers found that early diet-induced thermogenesis was 44% lower in the evening vs. morning during the 3 baseline days. On experimental days in the night shift group, early diet-induced thermogenesis was 50% lower in the biological evening vs. biological morning on the first test day; however, by the third test day, there was no difference.
“[This] did not support our original hypothesis of a decrease of [diet-induced thermogenesis] with circadian misalignment,” the researchers wrote. “When assessing the impact of circadian misalignment across both test days, we found no effect (i.e., no net impact of circadian misalignment on early [diet-induced thermogenesis]). Thus, short-term circadian misalignment is unlikely to increase body weight via changes in early [diet-induced thermogenesis].”– by Regina Schaffer
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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