Eating Around the Clock:Circadian Rhythms of Eatingand Metabolism

The time of day that we eat is increasingly recognized as contributing as im-portantly to overall health as the amount or quality of the food we eat. Theendogenous circadian clock has evolved to promote intake at optimal timeswhen an organism is intended to be awake and active, but electric lightsand abundant food allow eating around the clock with deleterious healthoutcomes. In this review, we highlight literature pertaining to the effects offood timing on health, beginning with animal models and then translationinto human experiments. We emphasize the pitfalls and opportunities thattechnological advances bring in bettering understanding of eating behaviorsand their association with health and disease. There is great promise for re-stricting the timing of food intake both in clinical interventions and in publichealth campaigns for improving health via nonpharmacological therapies.