According to scientists, working night shifts interferes with appetite, hunger and eating habits, leading to weight gain. A study was conducted on the topic and this is what it revealed.
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- What happens when someone works a night shift?
- Where does human body face problems while working night shift?
- Why was the study carried out?
- How can the damage be repaired?
What happens when someone works a night shift?
Working night shifts causes a disruption in the body’s biological clock, or circadian misalignment, which affects hormones that regulate appetite, according to a team of scientists led by the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.
The condition “jet lag” is also often related to a circadian misalignment. The researchers focused on the adrenal gland, which is located near the kidney and generates glucocorticoid hormones, which affect various physiological activities such as metabolism and hunger.
Where does human body face problems while working night shift?
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A misalignment of light and dark signals caused a disruption in the functioning of these hormones, which then affected the appetite of the jet-lagged group of animals, leading to an increased desire to eat significantly more during the inactive phase of the day, according to the scientists’ study published in the journal Communications Biology.
They say their findings show how circadian misalignment can dramatically affect dietary patterns, to the great disadvantage of metabolic health, and may be of help to the millions of people who work all night and struggle with weight gain.
Why was the study carried out?
Adrenal glucocorticoid hormones directly regulate a collection of brain peptides that affect hunger, some stimulating appetite (orexigenic) and others decreasing it (anorexigenic).
Hypothalamic orexigenic neuropeptides (NPY) from the jet lag group were dysregulated in this study, which scientists believe could be potential targets for drug treatments aimed at treating eating disorders and obesity.
Furthermore, while control rats consumed approximately 90% of their daily intake during their active phase and only 11% during their inactive phase, jet-lagged rats consumed approximately 54% of their daily calories during their inactive phase, without increasing physical activity during this time.
According to the researchers, this was almost five times more than the control rats consumed during the inactive phase, indicating that the timing of calorie intake was altered.
How can the damage be repaired?
“Those who work long night shifts should try to keep daylight exposure, cardiovascular exercise, and meals at regulated times.”
“However, the brain’s internal messages that drive increased appetite are difficult to override with ‘discipline’ or ‘routine,’ so we are currently designing studies to evaluate rescue strategies and pharmacological intervention drugs,” the author said. principal and Bristol researcher, Becky Conway-Campbell. .
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Source: vtt.edu.vn