CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS AND NUTRITION

The system of Circadian Rhythms is a mechanism that, in the forms of animal life, has evolved in order to synchronize the behavior and physiological responses to environmental periodical stimuli, so as to allow faster response and better adaptation to environmental changes. These stimuli (light, food availability, presence of predators, availability of a partner for reproduction) in turn depend on the rotation of the earth on its axis and around the sun. In mammals, there is a central hypothalamic clock , said Master Clock, directly regulated by light in its periodicity, which therefore plays the role of primary synchronizer, and several peripheral clocks, Slave Clock, synchronized with each other and constantly reset the MC. Between external stimuli food plays a fundamental role, as capable of take the place of the light in certain conditions. In recent years there has emerged a direct correlation between alteration of Circadian Rhythm , variously induced, and the development of multifactorial diseases such as obesity and diabetes. The biological clock is involved in the maintenance of energy homeostasis and thus in search of food and in the regulation of body weight. The recent concept of chrono-nutrition, expressed perfectly the influence of food, through times of intake but also by its specific composition, is able to exert on the expression of regulatory genes of circadian rhythms, and therefore the maintenance or alteration of energy homeostasis of the org