Chrononutrition and health (Frontiers editorial)
Summary
This editorial introduces a special issue on chrononutrition, the study of how meal timing interacts with circadian rhythms and health. The featured articles cover a wide range of topics, including how evening chronotypes tend to have poorer diet and sleep habits, how time-restricted eating can improve markers of liver health, and how maternal night-time eating may affect infant growth. Other studies explored meal timing for blood sugar control and the potential role of intermittent fasting in chronic illness. Together, these findings highlight that not only what we eat, but also when we eat, can shape metabolic and overall health.
Why It Matters For Night Shift Workers and Night Owls
For people working nights, meals often fall during hours when the body is least prepared to handle them. This collection of studies underscores that late-night eating can raise risks for blood sugar problems, weight gain, and long-term health issues, while concentrating meals earlier in the day may be protective. For night-shift workers, it suggests that paying attention to meal timing—not just food choices—may help reduce some of the metabolic strain of working against the body’s natural clock.
Notes
Open access.