Biological Rhythms and Food Intake

생체 리듬과 음식 섭취

Living organisms are influenced by many external rhythms and they have adapted their physiology to periodically changing conditions. These adaptive strategies are controlled by endogenous innate programs of behavior and physiology which are determined by external signals ("Zeitgeber"). There are many biological rhythms, each with its own characteristic functional adaptation. Among them, the presence of endogenous time control of feeding and drinking becomes obvious. There are increasing evidences that the control of food intake, food selection, and drinking are regulated by the endogenous rhythms including a circadian rhythm. However, there have been many restrictions in understanding the endogenous control of food intake itself and its mechanism. To broaden our know ledges of the endogenous time control of feeding and drinking, the author reviwed the characteristics of the endogenous timing for food intake, the influence of circadian pacemakers and food-entrainable oscillators, the interaction between the circadian control and the external and internal conditions in the control of food intake, the conseqences of feeding, the circadian control of food selection, and the biological cycles in energy balance.