Animal study · Supplements / medicine · 2 Sept 2026
Food keeps time, too — and your liver is listening for the dinner bell
Source: EurekAlert
What the research found
Study (mice). Texas A&M biologists led by Jerome Menet report in Science Advances that meal timing drives rhythmic liver gene activity through the nutrient sensor mTOR, in partnership with—but not identical to—the organ’s circadian clock. Blocking mTOR cut rhythmic gene expression by about 50%. The same nutrient signal had different effects depending on time of day. The authors link the finding to shift work, jet lag, late-night eating, and time-restricted eating. This is laboratory animal work, not a human fasting trial and not a reason to treat metabolic disease with a supplement or a clock pill. Meal timing is educational; concentrated “chrono” products are weakly evidenced for this claim.
Evidence level: Animal study. Results in animals or cells often don't carry over to people.
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