257 | id == 257
257 | category_id == 15
257 | category_order == 11
257 | category_name == Diet
257 | category_color == #C47AC0
257 | slug == NPAS2-diet
257 | title == A Gene That Controls When You Want to Eat (NPAS2)
257 | meta_description == NPAS2 helps regulate the circadian rhythms of eating and sleeping. Do you adapt well to changes in when you eat meals?
257 | summary == <p><strong><em>NPAS2 </em>helps regulate the circadian rhythms of eating and sleeping. Do you adapt well to changes in when you eat meals? Find out here.</strong></p>
257 | overall_score_text == Night Eating Score (based on NPAS2)
257 | image == https://sd-selfdecode-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/background/NPAS2--Chrono-Night-time-eating.jpg
257 | author_id == 1
257 | author_name == Jasmine Foster
257 | author_title == BSc, BEd
257 | author_order == 36
257 | author_photo == https://sd-selfdecode-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/author-photo/Jasmine.jpg
257 | author_intro == <p><strong>Jasmine received her BS from McGill University and her BEd from Vancouver Island University.</strong></p>    <p>Jasmine loves helping people understand their brains and bodies, a passion that grew out of her dual background in biology and education. From the chem lab to the classroom, everyone has the right to learn and make informed decisions about their health.</p>
257 | reviewer_id == 14
257 | reviewer_name == Shany Lahan
257 | reviewer_title == MS (Neuroscience)
257 | medical_reviewer_id == 11
257 | medical_reviewer_name == Puya Yazdi
257 | medical_reviewer_title == MD
257 | publish_date == 2020
257 | publish_date == 8
257 | publish_date == 4
257 | avg_rating == 5.0
257 | tags_id == 486
257 | tags_name == Circadian rhythm
257 | tags_id == 183
257 | tags_name == Diet
257 | tags_id == 576
257 | tags_name == Eating Schedules
257 | tags_id == 575
257 | tags_name == Nighttime Eating
257 | tags_id == 574
257 | tags_name == NPAS2 Gene
257 | permissions_favorite == False
257 | permissions_rate == False
257 | content_article == <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you have any serious health concerns related to finding the optimal diet or maintaining metabolic health, it is important to discuss these concerns with your doctor. The information in this post is presented for educational purposes only, and should not be used to replace standard medical care.&nbsp;</span></em></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">What is </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">?</span></h2> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2 </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">(neuronal PAS domain protein 2) is one of the core genes responsible for coordinating our circadian rhythms: the times of day at which we wake, </span><a href="https://selfhacked.com/blog/health-benefits-sleep/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">sleep</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, eat, and experience daily changes in blood pressure, body temperature, metabolism, and other functions [</span><a href="https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/NPAS2"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Like other circadian genes, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2 </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">responds to the cycle of light and dark to make sure our bodies perform certain functions at the right time of day [</span><a href="https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/NPAS2"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2 </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">specifically plays a role in determining when we sleep and when we eat. Sleep is broadly determined by the light and dark cycle, while eating is a little more complicated and appears to be learned according to the timing of food availability. That is, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> recognizes what times of day food is available and promotes appetite at those times [</span><a href="https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/NPAS2"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This gene is also involved in sending messages with the neurotransmitter </span><a href="https://selfhacked.com/blog/natural-ways-to-increase-gaba/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">GABA</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and in controlling </span><a href="https://selfhacked.com/blog/natural-treatments-anxiety/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">anxiety</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> responses [</span><a href="https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/NPAS2"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #e8ebfc; border-left: 2px solid #4569fa; display: block; padding: 20px;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> helps coordinate the rhythms of waking, sleeping, eating, and other daily cycles. It plays a central role in determining when we sleep and when we eat.</span></span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Health Effects of Nighttime Eating&nbsp;</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is a popular thought in diet culture that eating at night&mdash;right before going to bed, specifically&mdash;can cause you to gain weight to a greater extent than eating during the day. However, clinical studies have found no evidence that eating at night is, by itself, harmful for the general population [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4425165/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alternatively, multiple studies have found that extending the nightly fast&mdash;the time period at night when we don&rsquo;t eat&mdash;can have significant and far-reaching health benefits. One study found that people with a longer nightly fast were found to regulate their blood sugar more effectively. Another found a link between longer nightly fasts and lower rates of breast cancer [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4417458/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4549297/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These findings gel with other studies that have found significant health benefits to only eating within a specific, restricted time window each day [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6627766/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4255155/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Does NPAS2 Control When We Eat?</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One mouse study found an odd connection between </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, food intake, and health outcomes. In this study, one group of mice was raised with a normal </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> gene, while another group was raised with a deleted </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2 </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">gene (and therefore did not express </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">). Because of this gene&rsquo;s connection to the circadian rhythms of sleeping and eating, the researchers expected the mice without </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to have an irregular feeding pattern [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2826533/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead, they observed that the mice without </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> had very few differences in comparison to the normal </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2 </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">mice in terms of timing of food intake. However, when both groups of mice had their food taken away overnight (thus preventing the mice from eating when it was dark), the mice without </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> experienced drastic and unhealthy </span><a href="http://selfhacked.com/blog/a-comprehensive-list-of-effective-ways-to-lose-weight/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">weight loss</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The researchers found a similar result when the mice in both groups were only fed during a four-hour window at the same time each day [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2826533/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The authors of the study concluded that </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> may have been helping the mice adapt to changes in the timing of food availability. Low expression of </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> may make it more difficult for the body to adapt to changes in eating schedules [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2826533/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #e8ebfc; border-left: 2px solid #4569fa; display: block; padding: 20px;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> helps the body establish an eating schedule and adapt to the time of day at which food is typically available. Low </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> may make it more difficult to adapt to changes in eating schedules.</span></span></p> <h2><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2 </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Variants &amp; Night Eating</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Although the deletion of </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has been linked with disordered feeding in animals, researchers have yet to pin down a strong link between this gene and nighttime eating habits in humans. The evidence is sparse so far, but broadly speaking, low expression of </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> appears to make it more difficult for the body to adapt to changes in eating schedules [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2826533/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7038040/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The &lsquo;A&rsquo; allele at </span><a href="../../../snp/rs2305160/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">rs2305160</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has been associated with less seasonal variation in body weight and appetite, among other factors. While unconfirmed, this lack of variation may point to lower expression of </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and less adaptability to changes in eating schedules [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2848852/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26134245/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7038040/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Your </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2 </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Results for Night Eating</span></h2> <p>*6056749506764691*</p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">SNP Summary and Table</span></h3> <p><strong><em>NPAS2 </em></strong><strong>rs2305160</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&lsquo;G&rsquo; = Associated with more seasonal variation in eating habits; may be better at adapting to changes in eating schedules</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&lsquo;A&rsquo; = Associated with less seasonal variation in eating habits; may be worse at adapting to changes in eating schedules</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">About 35% of all people worldwide have at least one copy of the &lsquo;A&rsquo; allele.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The &lsquo;A&rsquo; allele is more common in people of European (54%) and American (49%) descent and less common in people of African descent (12%).</span></li> </ul> <p>*4762140337332909*</p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Recommendations for Regulating Eating Time</span></h2> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may try the complementary approaches listed below if you and your doctor determine that they could be appropriate for you. Discuss the strategies listed here with your doctor. Remember that none of them should ever be done in place of what your doctor recommends or prescribes.</span></em></p> <p>*4510524814106651*</p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keep a Strict Meal Schedule</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">People with the &lsquo;A&rsquo; allele at rs2305160 may not adapt well to changes in the time of day at which they eat and sleep. Keeping to a meal schedule and eating at the same times each day may help prevent the downstream health effects of disruptions to circadian rhythms [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2848852/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Deliberately sticking to a schedule of eating and sleeping can help prevent many other health problems, including obesity, hormone irregularities, </span><a href="https://selfhacked.com/blog/insulin-101/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">insulin</span></a><a href="https://www.selfhacked.com/blog/top-tips-for-fixing-insulin-resistance/"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> resistance</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and more [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5063707/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4013188/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Regulate Circadian Rhythms</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Detrimental </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> alleles make it more difficult to adapt to changes in daily routines and circadian rhythms; regulating circadian rhythms and keeping the same schedule every day may help make up for those alleles [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2848852/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are many ways to help regulate circadian rhythms. They include:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5468315/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">]</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Blocking out blue light at night [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1896724"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">]</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Seeking out </span><a href="https://selfhacked.com/blog/avoiding-sun-will-kill-14-proven-science-based-health-benefits-sun/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">sunlight</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> exposure early in the morning [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10373104"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">]</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Exercising around the same time, each day you do it [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6083774/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">]</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For more about circadian rhythms and how to establish and regulate them, </span><a href="https://selfhacked.com/blog/what-it-means-to-keep-to-a-circadian-rhythm/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">check out this post</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #e8ebfc; border-left: 2px solid #4569fa; display: block; padding: 20px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Because of the close link between </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NPAS2</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and circadian rhythms, the most important strategy for anyone with detrimental alleles is to set and keep schedules of sleeping and eating.</span></span></p>
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257 | content_learn_more_4762140337332909_text == SHOULD NOT APPEAR
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rsIDs = rs2305160
rsStatus = rs2305160,NPAS2,chr2,100974842,A,G,,,6,30,HET
