Chrono-nutrition: The future of food?

According to the Obepi-Roche survey conducted in France to assess overweight and obesity prevalence in the adult population in 2020, the prevalence of obesity among adults in France rose to 17% in 2020, a significant increase from the last survey conducted in 2017, when the prevalence was 15.1%. In addition, the prevalence of overweight among adults remained high, with 49% of adults in France considered to be overweight. This means that in total, more than two-thirds (66%) of adults in France are overweight or obese. The massive consumption of processed or ultra-processed foods and foods with little nutritional value, as well as the lack of dietary guidelines, are the main causes of this surge in obesity. Urgent action must therefore be taken to enable the population to fight against this proliferation of unhealthy eating habits. Chrono-nutrition emerges as a possible solution. The human body is subject to biological rhythms following a cycle lasting twenty-three to twenty-eight hours. These rhythms are ensured at the molecular level by the existence of clock genes. The activity of these genes will then regulate the expression of other genes, such as those controlling hormone secretion. Chronobiology studies these cycles. Chrono-nutrition, a daily application of chronobiology, aims to control and/or prevent metabolic problems by adapting the diet to the body’s natural rhythm, depending on the activity. Food is consumed throughout the waking state in order to provide nutrients at the right time and in the necessary and sufficient quantities, while avoiding storage of the surplus in fatty tissue. This article seeks to discuss and shed light on which foods should be encouraged according to an individual’s biological state, morphotype, and activity. Finally, it will outline which foods are to be favored according to an individual’s sleep/wake rhythm in terms of human nutritional chronobiology.