It's time to tune your ChronoPrakriti seminars

We have restarted the seminar again. It will be conducted alternatively online as well as in offline mode. The first offline seminar was conducted on last Saturday 25th Feb 2023 at Bhide Foundation, SP college campus attended by 16 participants. 

Circadian Rhythm and Time of Day of Vaccination

Many physiological and behavioral functions, including the immune system, exhibit circadian rhythms. We know that circadian rhythms are generated by “clock genes” that affect most organs and cells – including those of the immune system, whose function varies with the time of day.

Research results show that T cells are more prone to being activated at certain times of the day. Identifying the mechanisms by which the biological clock modulates T cell response is helpful to better understand the processes that regulate optimal T cell responses and contribute to improvements in vaccination strategies and cancer immunotherapies.

 T cells respond more or less strongly to a foreign body depending on the time of day, but the role of the biological clock in this phenomenon remained unknown. Using a mouse vaccination model, the scientists discovered that the strength of the CD8 T cell response after vaccination varied depending on the time of day. Conversely, in mice whose CD8 T cells for the clock gene were deficient, this circadian rhythm was abolished and the response to the vaccine was lower during the day. CD8 T cells, which are essential for fighting infection and cancer, function very differently depending on the time of day. 

Research from the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences has provided new insight into the mechanism behind how our 24-hour circadian body clock affects our immune response to vaccines depending on the time of day. The study examined the changes taking place in the mitochondria of a key immune cell involved in the vaccine response and could help to improve the design and timing of future vaccines to maximize efficacy.

https://www.chronobiology.com/immune-response-to-vaccination-the-role-of-the-circadian-rhythm/

Chronotype and metabolites

 We have presented our ongoing research in a recently concluded World Ayurveda Conference. Here is the abstract of the work. The manuscript is in preparation.

Metabolomics analysis revealed chronotypes associated metabolic alterations in healthy human adults-a pilot clinical trial

Amey Shirolkar, Gitanjali Pawar, Shridhar Chougule, Manjusha Savardekar, Meenal Joshi, Anagha Ranade, Sharad Pawar, Prashant S. Duraphe*

Purpose: Chronobiology is the study of biological rhythms. It examines the effects of time on biological events and internal biological clocks. The phenotypic expression of internal clock is called chronotype. There are very few studies to associate biomolecules and pathways with specific chronotype. Metabolites are the most versatile biomolecules which reflects the current status of the metabolism. Hence, it would be clinically relevant to associate metabolite signature with the chronotype. We hypothesize that chronotypes and Ayurvedic prakriti types are associated and need further investigation.

Methods: Chronotypes of ten (10) healthy volunteers were analysed using validated ICER chronotype questionnaire which is a modified version of Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ). Serum samples from these volunteers were utilized for isolating the metabolites and acquiring them in qualitative mode on a rapid resolution liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (RRLC-MS). The unbiased metabolomics profiling was explored to assess the signature metabolites and molecular pathways.

Results: The acquired metabolomics data was processed using statistical filters. Total 39 metabolites cleared the applied statistical filters. Partial Least Squared Discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) class prediction model yielded 93% accuracy in experimental groupings. T test (p<0.05), Fold change (FC>2.0) were also assessed and Purine, Glycerophospholipid and Thiamine metabolism were found to be the prominent metabolic pathways. Thiamine triphosphate, Deoxyuridine, Cyclic GMP, Epinephrine, Glycoholic Acid, Adenosine triphosphate, Phosphoadenosine phosphosulphate, lysophospholipid, phosphatidylethanolamines and phosphatidic acid were some of the significant marker metabolites found associated with morning and intermediate chronotypes. Adenosine triphosphate, glycoholic acid were down regulated when analysed in intermediate and morning chronotypes. While Phosphoadenosine phosphosulfate was found to be upregulated.

Conclusion: Omics analysis showed clear demarcation between chronotypes based on their metabolism and associated pathways hence it provides a potential tool to identify and characterize marker compounds for assigning chronotypes so as to incorporate chronotherapy in the disease diagnosis.

 

The origin of Chronotypes

The science surrounding chronotypes is interesting in and of itself. In recent years, we’ve learned that there are connections between chronotype and personality traits, mental health risks and overall physical health. However, recent science regarding the genetic component of chronotype take the scientific understanding of chronotypes to the next level, opening up the potential to glimpse the origin of chronotypes as well as to see their value in evolutionary terms. Not only does chronotype vary between individuals, but it also varies within a single individual according to age, leading some researchers to theorize about the evolution of and security value of these variations in hunter-gatherer cultures.

In the most basic sense of the word, chronotype describes a person’s natural sleep, wake and activity rhythm within the approximately 24-hour cycle that makes up a person’s circadian rhythm. The basic groupings are morningness, eveningness and intermediate. Due to its role in sleep timing, which can impact circadian rhythm, chronotype can impact physical and mental health in a variety of ways. That is, in part, due to the role of the circadian rhythm in the timing of near countless complex bodily processes, such as the manufacture and release of essential hormones, including melatonin and insulin. Furthermore, disruptions in the circadian rhythm, sleep quantity and sleep quality, a common occurrence when chronotype and lifestyle are at odds, can also negatively impact health and well-being, increasing the risk of numerous diseases.

Modern science and technology has opened up vast research potentials, something that has greatly benefited the study of chronotypes. With the ability to conduct genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on a massive scale, scientists have been better able to confirm that chronotypes do have genetic components. There are identifiable genetic differences between the basic chronotype groups. For example, a genetic variation in the PERIOD2 (PER2) gene is linked to later chronotypes, as opposed to those that would fall into the morningness category.

A study based on the data of about 700,000 people, collected from 23andMe and the UK Biobank, found there to be 351 genetic variants at play in determining chronotype. This confirms and adds to earlier studies noting genetic variations, with the newer study revealing far more variations related to chronotype determination. Studies suggest that between 20 percent and 50 percent of the factors involved in determining chronotype are present at birth due to genetics.

Some of the genetic variations that influence chronotype occur in genes that have to do with the correct functioning of body clocks. Other chronotype-impacting gene variations were found in the genes associated with the retina and how it translates light into signals suitable for the brain. These are just a couple of the genetic variations linked to chronotype.

Evidence of a genetic component to chronotype opens up new avenues of thought when it comes to the origin of chronotypes. Viewed through an evolutionary perspective, there could be practical value associated with chronotype variation among individuals living in a group. As noted in a study published by the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, sleep can be a vulnerable, dangerous time for animals, including humans — particularly those in pre-industrial, non-urbanized, non-agrarian societies.

Thus, variations in chronotype that result in the group not all sleeping and waking at roughly the same time, but instead result in various members of the group being awake at different times throughout the night, could be a real benefit to the security of the group and even enhance survival rates. On the path of evolution, for the most part, those that survive have a better chance of passing on their genetic material.

Interestingly, the international team of researchers involved in the study found that among the hunter-gatherer Hadza of Tanzania, all members of the group slept at the same time for just 18 minutes. The researchers observed the group for 20 days. According to the researchers, someone was awake 98.8 percent of the time. That means, in case of danger, someone was available to wake and warn the group for quite close to the entire night. The researchers explained that because of the similarities of the Hazda lifestyle to that of our ancestors in the Pleistocene period, it may be possible to glimpse some elements of our own evolutionary path.

In contemplating our evolutionary history, it is worth noting that how our bodies function is the result of thousands upon thousands of years of evolution. While we who live a modern lifestyle may feel as though we are far different from our Pleistocene ancestors or even from the Hazda, the amount of time that we’ve been living this lifestyle is just a moment in time when looking at the vast expanse of our history.

Those ancient rhythms still impact how our bodies function today. It makes sense, then, for better sleep and for better health to work with our chronotype, arranging our obligations and activities to fit better with our natural rhythms as much as possible.

https://www.chronobiology.com/the-origin-of-chronotypes-did-sleep-time-preference-evolve-over-time/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time Restricted Eating

All of nutrition science is based on two experiments. The first proved the notion of calorie restriction. If we eat less, we will lose weight and achieve better health. The second experiment supports the notion of ‘healthy diet’. The finding of second experiment proved the notion that the quality of food – its nutritional content – matters significantly when it comes to your health.

Proteins, carbohydrates and fats are called macronutrients whereas antioxidants, vitamins, minerals are called micronutrients. The entire focus of the research is to have a balanced diet which includes all of the above mentioned components in various proportions. Experimentally it is proved that high fat diet is the basic cause for obesity and diabetes. All our diagnosis, prognosis and disease management is based on the above two experiments and we tried to balance the diet and intervene in the cellular mechanism that maintains the body sugar level. Recently scientific community started bifurcating the cause of disease into poor diet and random eating behaviour. This third experiment established the idea that it is not only how much we eat and what we eat but when we eat that matters more for long term maintenance of health.

Without compromising on amount of calorie intake, if we just restrict the time of same amount of calorie intake, we provide our digestive tract and gut microbes the right time to perform its function uninterrupted by a new influx of food and enough time to repair and rejuvenate itself. Researchers have followed this up with another study, where they combined calorie restriction study with time specific calorie intake study. It was proved that low calorie food has no effect on weight loss if given at wrong time. This means that regardless of which kind of calorie restricting diet you follow, when you eat is more important than what type of food you eat.

We need food for the activity. As we are diurnal animal, we perform most of the activity during day time, hence our eating window should be as close as possible to 12 hours. Time restricted eating (TRE) is never about counting calories; it is just making you more disciplined about timing. It was proved that effective weight loss come with eating within 8 to 9 hours window. Most of our body fat burning happens 6 to 8 hrs after finishing last meal and increases almost exponentially after full 12 hours of fasting, making any amount of time fasting past 12 hrs highly beneficial for weight loss programs.

I will introduce you about chronoprakriti diet now.  A metabolic clock tuning is what targeted by chronoprakriti diet. Where is it located, how it functions and what disrupts it? The liver and pancreas along with gut microbiome are the key players in metabolic clock. Microbiome means a sum total of microorganisms present in our body. We are not in position to digest all food ingredients on our own without the help of microbes present in our digestive tract which are called gut microbiome.

There are conflicting reports about efficacy of number of meals per day or duration of fasting between two meals. It is suggested that there should be at least 5 hours gap between any two meal intakes during day time and at least 12 hours gap between dinner and breakfast on next morning. This time restricted eating pattern is shown to tune the metabolic clock by positively affecting the gut microbiome. The grazing pattern of eating does not allow the microbiome to rest and thus disrupts their rhythmicity. As the microbes are not exposed to outer environment directly, the food intake pattern is the only cue to set the rhythmicity. The type of food also decides the diversity of microbes.

Time restricted eating restricts the food intake during the active part of the day when the energy is required and avoids food intake during resting period which converts excess sugar into fat. To find out what is your current window of eating, start noting down the time of first and last food intake at least for seven consecutive days and you will be surprised to know that you eat almost all the time you are awake. This is the basic problem in our lifestyle which is very hard to change. Changes in eating pattern during weekdays and weekends, excessive intake of processed food and intake of largest meal in the late evening are few of the major wrong habits in the modern lifestyle.

Most of the religions, emphasis on fasting which is primarily to control your senses and ultimately to your mind. But the major importance of fasting at physical level is to reset your internal metabolic clock. I would suggest you shifting your eating and non-eating schedule stepwise from current 16:8 to 14:10 to 12:12 and ideally to 10:14 meaning 14 hours of gap between dinner and breakfast next day. It happens that once in while you may not able to follow this pattern for which dinner skipping at least once in a week is recommended. It will be hard in the beginning to have no food for more than 12 hours. It is recommended to drink liquid diet to begin with and then only water whenever you feel hungry.

Chronoprakriti diet plan will become personalized based on your chronoprakriti assessment. Your prakriti will decide which type of food you should prefer or avoid depending upon your age, season, geographical location and prevalent health condition. Your chronotype will decide whether you should have large breakfast or large lunch or large dinner.

Seasonal and local food products induces changes in the metabolism due to the particular phenolic profile that the product contains hence the Chronoprakriti diet insists on seasonal and local variety of food products in your diet. Even though we stick to this diet plan for weekdays and change it for weekends then body will experience what is called ‘metabolic jet lag’ Even without travelling to different time zone, your gut microbiome will experience the change in food intake that will disturb their rhythm and it will be take time to regain it.

So we should have consistent food timing on all days as much as possible. If it happens that due to social obligations, there is a change in meal pattern, it is recommended to fast next day to readjust the metabolic clock. Weekly fasting is highly recommended to keep your metabolic clock healthy. Our body is not made for 24x7 food intake. Due to availability of processed food round the clock our eating window is almost equivalent to our waking hours and that is creating all types of health issues. Our aim should be finishing a food intake in specific time span which should be less than 12 hours. If we could keep our digestive tract empty for at least 13-14 hrs then our peripheral clocks can tune themselves easily and help process excess nutrients properly by the body.

I will recommend to find out your chronoprakriti from our website and get the specific diet plan from us. Before that you may first give a try of 3 meals a day pattern with 5 hrs complete gap to find out how you feel. I am sure, you will see the positive difference even in first couple of days.

For more details do visit: www.chronoprakriti.com

Watch our YouTube Channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV4LHeYwP9kjDJH3_JJyvJg

The vicious cycle of eating at wrong time

The internal biological clock is regulated by diet, exercise and sleep-wake pattern which are also emphasized in Ayurvedic pillars of health as Ahar, Vihar and Nidra respectively. These three factors constitute our lifestyle. But most of the lifestyle management protocols does not include internal clock management. The health coach, nutritionist, counsellors or any such professional involved in preventive medicine are not even aware about basic principles of internal clock management.

See if this sounds familiar. You wake up in the morning, thinking that today is the day you are going to eat less and start losing weight. You are not hungry in the morning, so you skip breakfast. You go to work, and by lunchtime you do feel hungry, but you have small sandwich at desk. You congratulate yourself on your willpower. By 3 or 4 pm, that willpower is gone. You are hungry, cranky and fatigued and you are now craving for some unhealthy choices such as sweetened coffee or cheesy burger. After work, you are starving and exhausted. This is when the real trouble begins. You reach to whatever comes your way. Even after dinner, you cannot quit eating, when you feel full. Your blood glucose levels and insulin levels are spiking, but you crave something sweet. You continue to snack until bedtime. Unfortunately food consumed late in the day, won’t be digested. You may have acid reflux, congestion or intestinal cramping. So your sleep is less restful and you wake up feeling full from the night before. Starving yourself in the first half of the day and bingeing in the second half of the day will sabotage your weight management efforts.

Most of us have fallen into this pattern. We consume more than half of the calories we require after 4 pm. In one observational study, researchers found out that 50% of the participants consume 75% of the total calorie in afternoon and evening. They also found that people further delay meals on weekends, worsening the metabolic jet lag effect on the body. In the late afternoon and evening, the body is far less able to metabolize calories, sugar and fat. People think that skipping breakfast or lunch is saving calories for later, but this is not true. Your body is not a simple machine that consumes a set number of calories every 24 hrs. Your digestive tract has its own circadian rhythm. It is ready to go in the morning and burns most efficiently at noon. After 2pm, it is progressively more sluggish. People with slower metabolism or kapha prakriti who struggle to lose weight have almost no ability to digest any food in late evening.

Your body’s ability to handle a large infusion of calories means its glucose tolerance is higher in the morning. And insulin sensitivity is also cyclical which goes on decreasing as day passes. Your eating habits train your body to produce certain hormones associated with eating, including ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin is produced in the stomach and it is the only hormone the body makes to stimulate appetite. Whenever you eat, you are training your body to anticipate food at this time, and to make you hungry at the time when you normally eat. The hormone rises sharply before you eat and decreases after you eat for several hours. Leptin works the opposite way. It is released by your fat cells to tell the body that you have had enough to eat. Leptin levels low before you eat and rise sharply afterwards. Like insulin resistance, leptin resistance also developed in the body due to late night eating. You brain stops receiving leptin signals when you do not get enough sleep or when you eat at a time when your body would otherwise be sleeping.

To break this vicious cycle, we have to adopt time restricted eating, narrowing the window of food intake. You need to experiment a little to get used to eating less at night. You need to prepone dinner time in small steps. Initially you have a piece of fruit or milk late night to combat the habitual hunger. Remember, you have to train your brain to signal hunger at the right time, drinking hot water with lemon may be supportive in this effort.

I will recommend to find out your chronoprakriti from our website and maintain a sleep diary for a least one week to follow your sleep wake pattern. 

For more details do visit: www.chronoprakriti.com

Watch our YouTube Channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV4LHeYwP9kjDJH3_JJyvJg

What is Autorhythmometry

Most of the scientific progress is through the use of animal models because using humans as a model system has lots of limitation and ethical concerns. Chronobiology is too relied on various animal models to understand basic mechanisms of internal rhythmicity. Most of the animals follow natural rhythms and hence we could design experimental protocols to test a given hypothesis. But unfortunately humans is probably only animal who tend to defy the natural rhythms by creating situations such as 24x7 working society. Even at home we have technology at our service to mask the environmental cues such as change in temperature or light intensity. For example we have a heater or cooler to maintain the ambient temperature, we use artificial lights and extend the work hours at our own will.

The masking of environmental signals is not an old habit but very recent in terms of geological time scale. Humans are diurnal animal means they are supposed to work during day time and take rest during night time. All bodily activities are rhythmic. There is an optimal time to perform certain activity which is repeated with varied frequency. Observing and/or documenting our own rhythms is the first step in understanding the functioning of biological clock.

We tend to overlook the bodily rhythms and think that shifting the daily routine will have little effect on its functioning. Nature does not work in this manner that will be evident to you by observing any natural phenomenon and its frequency. Due to robust internal mechanism to regain the equilibrium called homeostasis, we manage the varied schedule which is more prominent during weekends in urban lifestyle. Consistent practice of circadian misalignment will be evident once the internal system became less efficient over the time and we are prone to lifestyle disorders.

Most of us are having issues with either metabolic, cardiac, neuronal or psychological functioning which could be addressed in the early stage by tuning of your internal time system without going for any medication. None of the medical practitioner will tell you this aspect of your disorder due to lack of understanding of internal clock mechanism.

I am going to tell you how to first observe the body rhythm and find out to what extent we have disturbed it. Next step would be how to fix it and regain the internal rhythm. Even though we can do all the activities at any given time of the day, body is not in position to perform it with same efficiency. You must have experienced it by eating at different time points and associated digestive problems.  Autorhythmometry is an experimental technique in classical chronobiology. The literal meaning is assessment of rhythmic behavior on self.

Body has its own way to provide signal if something is going wrong. None of the disease arises suddenly. There are lots of efforts by body to fight the pathogen before it is getting established in body such as corona virus or regaining the metabolic homeostasis before becoming diabetic to give you couple of examples. But we are not attentive to the body signals. We have forgotten to decipher the body language in the process of civilization. We may use the word in various context but actually we understand very little about the body language. Autorhythmometry is the way to become attentive to your body. Observing the daily rhythms, noting down the specific characteristics of body rhythm such as blood pressure, pulse rate, meal time, sleep time etc.

We may perform autorhythmometry of physiological or biochemical parameters for specific duration. There are many apps and gadgets are also available in the market for specific parameter. But even though the gadget is not available we may perform it with just paper and pencil by noting down the readings. I will discuss individual parameter one by one in subsequent article. 

For more details do visit: www.chronoprakriti.com

Watch our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV4LHeYwP9kjDJH3_JJyvJg