Anticipation of meal time in humans

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Most living organisms possess internal clocks that regulate daily (circadian) rhythms in many key biological functions (e.g. hormone secretion, sleep time, metabolism). The circadian timing system in mammals, including humans, consists of a 'master' clock within a part of the brain called the hypothalamus and many 'peripheral' clocks found throughout the body (e.g. in liver, pancreas and fat). There is increasing evidence to show that many of these clocks play an important role in timing our metabolism, including how we respond to meals eaten at different times of day. This work is extremely important as it is beginning to explain how meal timing (not just food type and quantity) influences our body weight long-term health.The time of feeding is an important signal for synchronising peripheral clocks in animals and we have recently shown for the first time that some human rhythms (e.g. of glucose control) are also synchronised by meal timing. It is also apparent from animal studies that internal clocks are essential to be able to anticipate meal timing. However, the underlying metabolic pathways involved in this meal anticipation occurs is not fully understood. Furthermore, no experiments on meal anticipation have been performed in humans, in part because very few places in the world can perform well-controlled human circadian experiments. In addition, technological advances have only recently enabled large-scale high-resolution analysis of multiple rhythmic metabolic pathways in a single set of experimental samples.At the University of Surrey, we have the benefit of world class human biology facilities, experts in circadian rhythms, and experts in nutritional science. Through our recent research, we have become world leaders in the analysis of metabolite rhythms in samples from human volunteers using state-of-the-art technology called metabolomics. Importantly, we have also produced preliminary information that shows the ability of human metabolism to anticipate a regularly administered meal. We therefore propose to build upon our preliminary data by conducting an extremely timely experiment to discover exactly how meal time is anticipated by human biology.Understanding the processes underlying food anticipation will answer a fundamental question in human physiology, with a (wide ranging) impact on weight balance and metabolic health. This knowledge will ultimately help scientists and clinicians to design better dietary strategies to regulate body weight and improve metabolic health.