Curiously Awesome

New research concludes eating high-fat foods may disrupt your internal biological “clock” that mimics the 24-hour cycle of the turning of the Earth. The result could be health problems ranging from insomnia and obesity to even cancer.

The biological clock regulates the expression and/or activity of hormones and enzymes involved in sleep and metabolism. Although light is the strongest factor affecting the internal biological clock, it has recently been discovered that fat laden diets can also disturb circadian rhythms. In fact, recent evidence indicates that disruption of circadian rhythms can promote cancer in a variety of ways, including the rate at which some malignancies develop.

The recent studies indicate that eating a lot of fat could contribute to obesity because high-fat diets disrupt the phases and daily rhythm of clock genes. Researchers also suggest that eating a high-fat diet may affect other circadian rhythm-controlled systems associated with metabolic disorders.

The researchers say their findings may also explain why people who eat high-fat diets often have problems with blood pressure and insomnia.