Meal Timing & Its Effects on the Pathogenesis of Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Metabolic syndrome is an assortment of biochemical abnormalities associated with cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Characterized by obesity, insulin resistance, and hepatic steatosis, it affects approximately 47 million Americans. This disease condition is promoted through impaired lipid metabolism and inflammation caused by a high fat diet and sugary drinks. Meal timing, or restricting food access to a specific time, inhibits disease progression. However, the potential of sugary water to negate these effects are unknown. Metabolic cage measurements indicated meal timed mice had decreased daily energy expenditure, increased nightly activity, and elevated respiratory quotient versus animals on high fat plus sugar diet. Physiological assessments also identified significantly decreased normalized inguinal adipose tissue and liver weights, decreased body mass, and improved glucose tolerance in meal timed animals. Taken together, this data illustrates that meal timing can make animals fed a high fat Western diet plus sugary water more metabolically fit.