Research
Hormonal
Glucose and insulin act as entraining signals for peripheral clocks, and disruptions in glucose/insulin signaling (e.g., insulin resistance) can alter circadian gene expression in the liver.
Maintaining stable blood glucose and insulin levels through a balanced diet may support healthy circadian rhythms in your liver. Avoiding large spikes in blood sugar could help keep your metabolic clock running smoothly.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Glucose is one of the factors that is able to induce cellular circadian rhythms... In vitro studies in rat fibroblasts have shown that insulin upregulates mRNA expression of Per1 and Per2... nonobese, STZ-induced insulin-resistance in C57BL/6 mice resulted in alterations in hepatic clock gene expression, suggesting that the molecular clock is sensitive to mild elevations in glucose and insulin levels, as seen in insulin resistance.
Why this rating
Based on rodent and cell culture studies.
Source
Impact of nutrients on circadian rhythmicity
Johanneke E. Oosterman et al. · American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology · 2014
DOI 10.1152/ajpregu.00322.2014
narrative_reviewCited 214×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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