The liver may be keeping track of more than the body’s internal day-and-night clock. New research from Texas A&M University has found that meal timing can trigger rhythmic activity in liver genes through a nutrient-signalling pathway, suggesting that when we eat may influence metabolism as well as what we eat.
The study, published in Science Advances, found that food provides signals to the liver through a pathway called mTOR, which responds to changes in nutrient and energy availability.
The liver listens to meal timings
The brain’s master circadian clock helps coordinate biological rhythms throughout the body. However, researchers found that the liver also responds directly to regular feeding patterns.
When food arrives, nutrients activate mTOR, which influences genes involved in metabolism and other cellular processes. Researchers found that blocking mTOR reduced rhythmic gene activity in the liver by about 50%.
Importantly, the liver’s core circadian clock continued functioning, suggesting that food-driven signals and the body’s internal clock can operate through separate but connected pathways.
Late-night eating can disrupt the rhythm
Modern lifestyles can make it difficult to keep eating and sleeping schedules aligned. Night-shift workers may eat during the early hours, while frequent travellers can find themselves eating when their internal clocks indicate that it is time to sleep.
According to the researchers, such mismatches could contribute to metabolic problems over time. They say the findings may help explain why irregular schedules have been associated with conditions including fatty liver disease and cardiovascular problems.
However, the study does not mean that eating late at night directly causes these diseases. It provides evidence about a biological mechanism that may help researchers understand how disrupted body rhythms affect health.
What the findings could mean for fasting
The research also adds to scientific interest in chrononutrition — the study of how meal timing, frequency and distribution interact with the body’s 24-hour biological rhythms.
Time-restricted eating, in which food is consumed within a consistent daily window, may provide more predictable nutrient signals to the liver. The findings offer a biological basis for investigating whether consistent eating schedules can help maintain metabolic rhythms.
Could treatment timing also matter?
The researchers believe understanding the liver’s food-responsive pathways could eventually have implications beyond nutrition.
If scientists can better map how meal timing influences liver rhythms, it may help explore whether the timing of certain medicines could be coordinated with these biological processes.
For now, the Texas A&M findings add another layer to our understanding of the body’s internal clocks: the brain helps set the timing, but the liver also appears to take cues from when food arrives.