Why eating during the day is beneficial for mental health
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- Researchers recently investigated the effects of meal timing on mood vulnerability in night shift workers.
- They found that a day-only diet, as opposed to a day and night diet, could significantly improve the mood of night shift workers.
- However, we note that further studies are needed to confirm the results.
Shift workers often experience deviations between their 24-hour body clock, known as the circadian clock, and their daily environmental and behavioral cycles because of irregular work hours.
Research shows that circadian inconsistencies have negative effects on the body.
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Further research on evidence-based circadian interventions is essential to improve mental health in at-risk populations.
Recently, researchers conducted a randomized clinical trial (RCT) to examine how daytime eating affects the mood of people working in an environment that simulates shift work.
They found that participants who ate during the day experienced no changes in mood, whereas those who ate at night experienced an increase in depression-like and anxiety-like moods. did.
“This study shows that altering the timing of meals can have a clear and measurable effect on mood under shift-work conditions,” said Stuart B., professor of circadian neuroscience at the University of Oxford. Dr. Pearson said. MNT.
“As the authors point out, this study used a simulated shift work schedule under laboratory conditions. Whether night shift workers benefit has not yet been tested.” he added.
Researchers announced their findings Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
For this study, researchers recruited 19 participants, including 12 men and 7 women, with an average age of 26.5 years.
In preparation for the study, participants maintained a fixed eight-hour bedtime for two weeks. They then went through her 14-day lab stay.
After acclimating to the lab for several days and providing baseline measurements, participants underwent the forced desynchronization (FD) protocol in dim light for four 28-hour ‘days’.
This protocol allowed participants to gradually transition to a ‘night shift schedule’. By day 4, they were 12 hours off she was from day 1.
In the FD phase of the study, participants were randomly assigned and fed only during the day or fed during both the day and night, typical of night workers.
Other conditions remained the same among participants, including caloric and macronutrient intake, physical activity, sleep duration, lighting conditions, and night work.
The researchers assessed participants’ mood states, such as depression and anxiety, hourly during the FD period.
After analyzing the results, the researchers found that those who ate day and night experienced a 26.2% increase in depression-like moods and a 16.1% increase in anxiety-like moods compared to when the study began. I discovered that
In contrast, people in the group who ate during the day had no change in depression-like or anxiety-like mood levels.
By assessing participants’ blood glucose and temperature rhythms, the researchers found that the degree of circadian mismatch was strongly associated with more depression-like and anxiety-like moods. did.
They also noted that eating only during the day despite mistimed sleep was associated with maintaining circadian rhythms in the body.
When asked how meal timing interacts with circadian rhythms, Dr Sarah Cerappa of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the University of Cologne, Germany, told MNT, co-director of the study: .
“Our circadian system consists of a master circadian clock in the brain and peripheral clocks in most tissues throughout the body. The master clock is primarily synchronized by the daily light-dark cycle, but many peripheral Clocks are most strongly synchronized (e.g. timing of food intake).
“Thus, eating in the middle of the night can disconnect peripheral circadian rhythms from the central clock. [For example]the central clock may be on [the] Boston (United States) time zone, with local clock on [the] Cologne (Germany) time zone,” added Dr. Chellappa.
“This disruption of circadian coordination between different clocks throughout our body (called internal circadian dyscoordination) is a physical and mental health risk for night shift workers who often eat at midnight. may explain the increase in
– Dr. Sarah Cherappa, co-author
Dr. Gregory Nawalanik, a clinical psychologist at the University of Kansas Health System, who was not involved in the study, said: MNT Clinicians recognize that depression and anxiety can lead to circadian dysregulation, as patients’ sleep patterns are often disrupted.
“This dysregulation can cause disconnection from the outside world, as individuals sleep with the promise of perhaps only waking up, and experience increased depression/anxiety and self-loathing as a result.” , to the extent that they feel hopeless or helpless about their situation, it fosters a vicious cycle that exacerbates the experience of depression or anxiety,” Dr. Nawalanik said.
“This study reveals an interesting new angle to look at this effect in reverse: exploring how circadian inconsistencies affect mental health. It stands to reason that it is very likely to be the direction.”
Dr. Chellappa said the majority of clinical data linking mental health conditions and circadian rhythm deviations
“Animal studies show that even in healthy animals, experimentally induced circadian rhythm disturbances adversely affect activity in brain regions essential for mood regulation, leading to behaviors resembling depression and anxiety. However, resynchronization of circadian rhythms prevents such effects, and thus regulation of circadian rhythms is essential for maintaining optimal activity in brain regions that control mood. may be essential to
The researchers concluded that it provides a proof-of-concept demonstration that meal timing may prevent mood vulnerabilities in shift work schedules.
When asked about the limitations of this study, Dr. Nawalanic said:
“Since the circadian mismatch was created in a laboratory setting, the greatest limitation of this study arises in the form of real-world applications. [also] The interpersonal disconnection and frustration that shift workers may experience as a result of their schedule should not be taken into account. This is an important variable that can have a significant impact on feelings and concerns of depression and anxiety. ”
Dr. Mahadir Ahmad, a senior lecturer in clinical psychology at Kebangsan University in Malaysia, also said he was not involved in the study. MNT:
“It would be nice to measure [or] Shows biomarkers of psychological distress (e.g. serotonin) [and] measuring cortisol levels) in addition to measuring self-administered questionnaires makes the results more convincing. ”
When asked how these findings might affect mental health management, Dr. Chelapa said, pending further research, “reconsider the amount of food (especially carbohydrates) that night workers eat at night. That might help,” he said.
Dr. Nawalanic added that these findings may point to tools that therapists can use with shift workers who suffer from depression and anxiety.
“It also has the potential to offer potential behavioral therapy interventions in the form of dietary recommendations that could help create meaningful avenues in the management of these conditions in shift workers,” he said. said.
“Describing the initial state of these findings is important, but providing meaningful straws to get there is a meaningful and positive way for those who are beginning to feel helpless or hopeless about their condition.” It can be extremely important in bringing about change.”
– Dr. Gregory Nawalanic, Clinical Psychologist, University of Kansas Health System
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