Our body (circadian) clock regulates its own rhythms to keep us healthy by aligning our internal processes not only with the day/night cycle, but also with the seasons. One of the rhythms is the rhythm of the body’s own immune cells called macrophages. According to a recent study, when rhythm of macrophages is disrupted (due f.e. to bad eating habbits, insufficient sleep, not enough daylight or a lot of stress), the immune cells start producing molecules which drive inflammation. This can lead to chronic inflammatory diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, but also decrease our ability to fight infection.

The researchers found that the key of this changed behaviour of macrophages is a different fuel usage. Macrophages turned to take up far more glucose and broke it down more quickly without a body clock than normal cells. The researchers also discovered that, in the mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cells), the ways the glucose was further broken down to produce energy, were very different in macrophages without a clock. This led to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which further enforced inflammation.

That’s why you need to listen to your body and take a good care of it to let your immune system do its work effectively.

Curious? HERE is the source