When you eat matters: 60 years of Franz Halberg's nutrition chronomics

Abstract

Franz Halberg revolutionalized the field of nutrition by his demonstration that "when" we eat can make the difference between life and death in the experimental laboratory, and between weight gain or weight loss in everyday life. His critical contributions have far-reaching implications, whether for feeding the under-nourished in populations stricken by starvation, or for managing one of today's great scourges in the more opulent countries, namely obesity. The use of a calorie consumed in the morning differs from that of one ingested in the evening, contributing, as he also showed, to different hormonal relations prevailing when a single daily meal is taken as breakfast-only or dinner-only. Important mechanisms underlying metabolism as they relate to health and longevity uncovered by Franz in the innumerable studies he designed and conducted on several continents remain beyond the frontier of current scientific investigations, attesting to his visionary leadership, his ability to look at the facts without any preconceived ideas, and his truly amazing humility and eagerness to serve. © Germaine Cornelissen.