Do you want to translate the biological clock? Skip breakfast and dinner!
Changing the diet can help a person better tolerate long flights with a change of time zones, usually leading to a disorder of biorhythms and poor health.
Scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, working under the guidance of Professor Clifford Saper, have established the existence of a "spare" biological clock in animals that adjusts depending on the body's diet and can replace the main biological clock that depends on the light regime.
The role of the main biological clock of the body is performed by a special group of cells of the hypothalamus – the suprachiasmatic nucleus. This brain structure receives signals about cyclic changes in illumination from the organs of vision and transmits them to another group of hypothalamic cells – the dorsomedial nucleus, which controls the cycles of falling asleep-waking up, activity, nutrition and hormonal changes.
In conditions of sufficient food intake, this system works flawlessly. The light signals coming from the retina ensure the formation of circadian rhythms in accordance with the standard cycle of changing the time of day. However, in the case of a shortage of food during the normal waking period, animals need to adapt to a different diet, which occurs due to the launch of a secondary biological clock, the operation of which depends on the diet.
In addition to the cells of the suprachiasmatic nucleus, cells of other structures of the brain and peripheral organs, including the stomach and liver, participate in the formation of food circadian rhythms. To accurately determine the localization of the "spare" biological clock, the authors used genetically modified mice in which the BMAL1 gene is blocked – one of the main genes involved in the work of the biological clock. Using a viral vector containing the BMAL1 gene, they alternately restored the functioning of the biological clock in different regions of the brain. As a result of this step-by-step analysis, they found that the biological clock regulated by the diet is located in the dorsomedial nucleus.
Researchers have demonstrated that one cycle of fasting and subsequent feeding triggers a spare biological clock, which allows you to regulate circadian rhythms depending on the time of food availability, bypassing the suprachiasmatic nucleus.
The authors believe that a person can use this discovery to alleviate the consequences of intercontinental flights. For example, a flight from the USA to Japan means adaptation to an 11-hour time difference, which usually takes about a week for the body, and by the time of full adaptation, it is often time for a person to return.
According to Seiper, a 16-hour fast (in the case of a flight from the USA to Japan, it is enough to refuse food during the flight), followed by a meal immediately after arrival, will help the traveler adapt faster to the new time zone and avoid unpleasant physiological consequences of the flight.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of ScienceDaily
26.05.2008