Oral Presentation ANZOS-Breakthrough Discoveries Joint Annual Scientific Meeting 2018

Time restricted feeding (#19)

Leonie Heilbronn 1
  1. Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, and Nutrition and Metabolism Theme, SAHMRI, Adelaide

Light/dark cycle aligned (circadian) rhythms regulate the processes associated with the acquisition and metabolism of food. In mice, limiting food intake to the non-resting phase induces circadian desynchrony, and results in obesity and impaired glucose tolerance (1). A feature of modern human lifestyles is an extended period of eating, and a curtailed period of fasting, that likely induces circadian desynchrony.  Time restricted feeding (TRF) is a novel dietary approach that limits when, rather than what, food is eaten. Time restricted feeding is emerging as a powerful regulator of health and longevity in mouse models, and TRF restores peripheral circadian rhythmicity in liver of mice that are fed a high fat diet. The evidence as to whether TRF will be beneficial for metabolic health in humans is currently limited. Short-term studies are beginning to emerge that suggest that the health effects observed in mice will translate to people who are at risk of type 2 diabetes. Particularly, TRF improves glucose tolerance independently of food intake. Our data similarly shows that TRF improves glycaemic control in men who are at risk of type 2 diabetes. Further, we show that there may be at least some flexibility in the clock time that the fasting time is initiated. We are currently conducting metabolic studies in humans to examine whether TRF can improve 24-hour glucose metabolism, and reset peripheral clocks in adipose tissue. We have also tested the metabolic impacts of TRF during simulated shift work and show that TRF may be a tool to rescue the metabolic consequences of shift work in people.