Why Do We Starve At Night?
Author: Mark Velov
Time for reading: ~1
minutes
Last Updated:
August 08, 2022
People who often eat at night do not actually do it out of greed, but because of a defective gene ...
People who often eat at night do not actually do it out of greed. A defective gene was to blame for the midnight meal, researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Northwestern University in Illinois found.
The researchers performed laboratory tests on experimental mice that had a mutation in the gene that controls the 24-hour biological rhythm. Mice exhibited behaviors and eating habits similar to those in overweight and obese patients. The results show that the brain system, which controls the cycles of sleep and wakefulness, may also help regulate appetite and metabolic processes in general.
Mice that had a gene mutation tended to overeat and gained weight quickly. Significant elevated cholesterol and blood sugar levels were also found in these rodents.
The researchers found that the levels of hormones associated with appetite, leptin and ghrelin, were unusually high.
When fed a healthy, low-calorie diet, rodents with a mutation in the gene quickly gained weight, just as they gained mice without a mutated gene but fed a high-calorie diet.
If high-calorie food was given to experimental animals with altered genes, they gained weight extremely quickly and showed symptoms of metabolic disorders in a short time.
The authors of the study are of the opinion that the problems in metabolism are largely due to the malfunction of the biological clock, which controls appetite.
Experts believe that patients suffering from insomnia may exacerbate this problem, as eating at night is the most harmful and further disrupts the metabolism.