According to new research, midnight munching might not just be bad for your waistline—it could actually lead to wrinkles and even increase the risk of skin cancer. The culprit?
Disruption to the body’s internal clock caused by eating at incorrect times, which in turn lowers the defence against harmful UV radiation due to a decrease in the effectiveness of a protein that usually shields us from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
The team behind the findings also previously discovered that late-night eating contributes to weight gain and has been associated with a heightened risk of conditions like breast cancer, heart disease, and strokes. Professor Joseph Takahashi, a renowned neuroscientist from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, has suggested that frequent late eaters might be more prone to sunburn and the long-term impacts on the skin, including ageing and the potential development of skin cancer, prompting advice for sun seekers to eat earlier.
He commented on the revelation: “This finding is surprising. I did not think the skin was paying attention to when we are eating.”
The experiments conducted on mice showed that those fed only during the day—an unusual time for these naturally nocturnal creatures—suffered greater skin damage when exposed to UVB light, reports Kent Live.
This increased susceptibility was attributed to a change in the daily cycle of a skin-repair enzyme known as XPA (xeroderma pigmentosum group), which became less active during daytime. Conversely, mice who ate in their normal evening periods didn’t show this alteration in their XPA cycles and therefore were less affected by exposure to UV rays during the day.
Dr Takahashi remarked: “It’s likely if you have a normal eating schedule then you will be better protected from UV during the daytime. If you have an abnormal eating schedule that could cause a harmful shift in your skin clock, like it did in the mouse.”
He also noted that previous studies have shown the body’s circadian rhythms play significant roles in skin biology, but the mechanisms controlling the skin’s daily clock were not well understood until now. The new study, published in Cell Reports, highlights the crucial role of feeding times, with Prof Takahashi and his team choosing to focus on this aspect due to its known impact on the daily cycles of metabolic organs such as the liver.
Their research discovered that altering eating schedules could influence the expression of about 10 percent of the skin’s genes and disrupt XPA cycles, which are integral to skin protection. Co-author Prof Andersen, from California University in Irvine, emphasised the need for further investigation into how eating patterns affect sun damage in humans and the specific effects on XPA cycles.
Prof Andersen expressed intrigue at the skin’s sensitivity to food intake timing, saying: “It’s hard to translate these findings to humans at this point. But it’s fascinating to me the skin would be sensitive to the timing of food intake.”
Renowned for identifying the first circadian rhythm gene named Clock, Prof Takahashi is also exploring other ways in which eating schedules influence circadian rhythms. His research supports the concept that when food is consumed may be more pivotal for weight loss than the number of calories consumed.
Despite consuming the same amount of food as other groups, only those mice on a calorie-restricted diet that ate during their usual feeding/active cycle managed to shed weight.