The genetic genius: Time-restricted eating expands scope of nutrition

You are what you eat. The age-old aphorism has received a 21st-century genetic nod of approval, with an added caveat: when. A new study shows time-restricted eating (TRE), where food consumption is limited to a window of eight to 10 hours, regulates the nervous system and improves cognitive function and metabolic activity. Even though the study was conducted on mice, it expands the scope of nutrition epigenetics that looks at the connection between food and gene expressions and how certain foods can activate specific genes. Conducted by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Research United States, the study, published in Cell Metabolism in January this year, found that TRE activated genes in over 22 regions of the body and brain. Almost 40 percent of the genes in the adrenal gland, hypothalamus and pancreas showed a shift, reiterating the positive effect of nutritional interventions in improving brain, heart, lungs, liver and gut health.