# Time restricted feeding and metabolic rhythms in humans

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2020 · $151,416

## Abstract

Project Summary & Abstract
 The timing of energy intake relative to the light-dark and sleep-wake cycle plays an important role in the
development of metabolic diseases. Consuming energy at an inappropriate time of day results in desynchrony
of anabolic and catabolic processes that are regulated across the day by circadian clock systems. When mice
are fed a high fat diet ad libitum, they eat throughout day and night and become obese, but strikingly when the
same diet is restricted to a short window at the appropriate circadian time (i.e., time time-restricted feeding; TRF),
they are protected against obesity. Little is known in humans regarding the influence of meal timing on whole
body metabolism and the mechanisms involved. The overarching research goal of the present K01 Career
Development Award is to leverage the pre-clinical evidence on the TRF paradigm in mice to understand how
meal timing affects fuel metabolism, metabolic flexibility, and organization of the circadian landscape in humans.
 The proposed research plan serves as a vehicle to advance the applicant, Corey Rynders, PhD to
independent investigator status over a period of five years of NIH-NIDDK K01 support. Dr. Wendy Kohrt at the
University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical Campus and a multidisciplinary group of scientists with expertise in
obesity, metabolism, and circadian physiology (Drs. Bessesen, Melanson, and Wright) will oversee the training
plan of Dr. Rynders and ensure his successful transition to an independent translational researcher. To achieve
this aim, Dr. Rynders will need to gain new knowledge of circadian physiology, establish important collaborations
in the circadian field, mature his expertise in metabolic research, and have protected time to acquire preliminary
data to submit a competitive R01 application. The overall career goal is to develop an independent research
program focused on how lifestyle factors impact the circadian regulation of metabolism in human subjects.
 Study Design: The study will determine the effects of time-of-day-dependent feeding on substrate
metabolism, metabolic flexibility, and circadian clock gene expression. Overweight adults (n=28) will complete
two isocaloric feeding conditions using a randomized cross-over design; 7 days free-living with day 8 spent in a
room calorimeter to measure substrate oxidation. Subjects will complete a simulated ad libitum feeding condition
with fasting duration equal to sleep duration and an isocaloric TRF condition with energy intake restricted to an
8h window during the early or late or late part of wakefulness (half of the subjects will be randomized to early
TRF and the other to late TRF; n=14 per group). Aim 1 will test whether TRF increases dietary fat oxidation, 24h
whole body fat oxidation, and the metabolic flexibility to fasting. Aim 2 will determine whether TRF decreases
24h glucose and insulin concentrations, increases insulin sensitivity, and improves the metabolic flexibility to
feeding....

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10007796
- **Project number:** 5K01DK113063-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Corey Allan Rynders
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $151,416
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10007796

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10007796, Time restricted feeding and metabolic rhythms in humans (5K01DK113063-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10007796. Licensed CC0.

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