Time matters: an insight into the relationship between chrononutrition and diabetes

Rossy S. López-Prieto, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico
Alonso Romo-Romo, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico
Paola Gómez-Avilés, Department of Endocrinology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico
Shubhangi Sharma-Sharma, Department of Endocrinology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico
Ximena Costilla-Orozco, Department of Endocrinology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico
Gabriela A. Galán-Ramírez, Metabolic Diseases Research Unit, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico
Paloma Almeda-Valdés, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism and Metabolic Diseases Research Unit, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico

Chrononutrition is a branch of chronobiology that evaluates nutrients and the pathways implicated in their regulation in accordance with circadian rhythms. Sleep deprivation and disturbances have been strongly associated with the progression of different metabolic alterations, and the time of food intake plays a fundamental role in maintaining metabolic homeostasis. It has been demonstrated that not only the components of food are important, but quantity and quality are also crucial elements of a healthy eating pattern. Chrononutrition is an emerging tool that could help improve dietary interventions beyond those derived from consuming an adequate amount of each nutrient. Diabetes is a complex endocrine pathology characterized by sustained hyperglycemia. Dietary changes are a key component in obtaining adequate control and preventing long-term complications. Recent studies emphasize the use of chrononutrition and its components as a novel dietary intervention that could improve metabolic control. The use of chrononutrition as a dietary intervention is faced with challenges such as the presence of gaps in the literature that limit its implementation. This emphasizes the imperative need for additional research that can lead to an evidence-based use of this intervention.

Keywords: Chronobiology disorders. Diabetes mellitus. Medical nutrition therapy. Circadian dysregulation.