Indian American Researcher Satchidananda Panda Examines Health Impact of Snacking at Night

Taking a single snapshot of all the bacteria that live in the stomach and intestines of a mouse – or human – can capture the health of the subject’s digestive system and even their risk of developing immune diseases and cancers.

By Ajit Jain

Taking a single snapshot of all the bacteria that live in the stomach and intestines of a mouse – or human – can capture the health of the subject’s digestive system and even their risk of developing immune diseases and cancers. But it might take more than one snapshot to get a full picture, Salk Institute researchers in San Diego have discovered, in a study headed by an Indian American, Dr. Satchidananda Panda.

The study also discovers that “in a healthy, lean mouse, the gut microbiome – the full collection of microbes inside their digestive system – undergoes a complex cycle. Some bacteria are found at highest levels during the night while others peak during the day. These fluctuations, however, disappear in obese mice, which could be a contributing factor to metabolic disease.”

Dr. Panda and his lab decided to conduct this study to find out how people who snack in the middle of the night are impacted by their habit. Do they become obese and its impact on their health.

He naturally started with the animal model – mice.

“Previously the message was that there are beneficial microbes and there are harmful microbes,” explains Dr. Panda, lead author of the study who’s an associate professor at the Salk Institute’s Regulatory Biology Laboratory.  “We found that it’s more complex than this, different microbes are needed at different times of the day.”

Before studying human, he and his teammates, started experimenting with the eating patterns of lab mice. Their study shows that mice prevented from eating at all hours avoided obesity and metabolic problems – even if their diet was sometimes unhealthy.

Dr. Panda’s study has appeared in the last December issue of the journal Cell Metabolism. It reveals how the scientists compared the microbiomes of mice fed normal food versus those given high-fat chow. Rather than take one daily measurement of the animals’ gut microbes, they measured the populations of microbes every four hours. In the mice on normal diet, who eat during the night and sleep during the day, the researchers saw dramatic fluctuations in the particular genera of bacteria present at any given time. But in the mice that were on a high-fat diet, and generally eat around the clock, gain weight and develop diabetes, the microbes remained more constant.”

Asked about the larger significance of his study, Dr. Panda told the Indian Diaspora “when we eat may be as important as what we eat.”

He was not able to say whether his findings, his group’s findings as to how lab mice become obese will have a bearing on humans.  He was not able to answer that question beyond saying

“You know mice are different from humans. We could have solved all problems had they been the same. But at the same time we don’t want to raise hopes. It is kind of dangerous as many people might go without diagnosis. Secondly, genetics play a big role in this.”

How significant are the results of the findings?

“I would say these are very significant as during the last 25 years people have been studying this, mice and actually high rich diet. We want to study the next stage…,” Dr. Panda explained. ”There are as many as 7,000 publications out, on high rich diet and obesity, animal models, what causes obesity, etc. There are also publications on various genes, and various chemicals. They all started with the mice, same model as in case of my study.”

Are there lots of people who snack in the middle of the night?

“I wouldn’t comment on this without any objective data,” Dr. Panda responded.

“We are not sure what the persons actually eat for an extended period of time. What we have shown in this study is mice are given high fat diet for extended period of time, say 15 hours (a day), and that results in the obesity. If that’s replicated in humans, consuming calories for an extended period of time, 16 hours a day, they are also disposed to a disease.”

Where do you go from here?

“Despite all this media coverage, we the academic community, the scientific community, are disposed to this idea of calorie intake. We have to go step by step.  We have to monitor what people actually eat and what the percentage of population eats for an extended period of time every day, and the potential significance of this.  And then we have to have a controlled study of humans. We have to make sure they are the right individuals,” said Dr. Panda.

Asked when he would take the next step – to study the implications of eating rich food for a long period of time every day, Dr. Panda said he was not a medical doctor.

“So, I have to collaborate with people who are experts in this field.”

(Ajit Jain is Canada Editor of the Indian Diaspora. He can be reached at ajit.jain0410@gmail.com)

This story originally appeared on The Indian Diaspora.