TRENDING SCIENCE: Want to improve your mood? Check when you eat

We’ve all heard the expression ‘You are what you eat’ to stress the importance of eating right to be healthy and fit. This is becoming even more difficult with the traditional 9 to 5 scenario in decline. Modern work demands goods and services day or night.

Shift workers represent about 30 % of the workforce worldwide. Working odd hours is resulting in chaotic sleep and eating schedules. What’s more, irregular working hours are known to lead to depression and anxiety.According to findings in the journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’, it’s not only what you eat, but when you eat it that’s important for mental health.

Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the United States simulated night shift workers’ lifestyles over 2 weeks and evaluated mood levels every hour. They divided participants into two groups: the daytime eaters, and the daytime and nighttime eaters. For the daytime-only group, they ate on a 24-hour cycle. For the second group, meals were eaten on a 28-hour cycle, which is a normal schedule for night workers.

Results showed that the daytime and nighttime eating group reported a 26 % increase in depression-like mood levels and a 16 % gain in feelings of anxiety. Those who only ate during the day didn’t experience this increase.

“Future studies in shift workers and clinical populations are required to firmly establish if changes in meal timing can prevent their increased mood vulnerability,” commented co-corresponding author Dr Frank A. J. L. Scheer, Director of the Medical Chronobiology Program at Brigham’s Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders in a press release. “Until then, our study brings a new ‘player’ to the table: the timing of food intake matters for our mood.”“Meal timing is emerging as an important aspect of nutrition that may influence physical health,” explained co-corresponding author Dr Sarah L. Chellappa, now at the University of Cologne’s Department of Nuclear Medicine, Germany. “But the causal role of the timing of food intake on mental health remains to be tested. Future studies are required to establish if changes in meal timing can help individuals experiencing depressive and anxiety/anxiety-related disorders.”

We’re constantly focused on what to eat. It’s high time we focused on the when, too.