Nighttime Synchrony of Your Nutrition and Circadian Health
Nighttime Synchrony of Your Nutrition and Circadian Health: The N-Sync Study
University of Utah
120 participants
Dec 19, 2025
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
Sleep is an important factor for overall health. This study will see how different light exposure patterns and food intake impact a person's metabolism (how the body breaks down food) when sleeping is reduced. Participants will attend 6 to 8 in-person visits to the study clinic, including three overnight stays. People will complete surveys and medical tests. The study will last about 4 to 6 months.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria3
- Age: 18-35 years old; equal numbers of men and women
- Body Mass Index (BMI): 18.5-24.9 kg/m2
- Sleep Habits: habitual self-reported average total sleep time (TST) 7-9 hours per night for prior 6 months
Exclusion Criteria15
- Clinically diagnosed sleep disorder or apnea hypopnea index (AHI) ≥5
- Evidence of significant organ system dysfunction or disease (e.g., heart disease, diabetes)
- Fasting plasma glucose ≥100 mg/dL
- Major psychiatric illness (e.g., major depressive disorder)
- Cancer that has been in remission less than 5 years
- History of shift-work in prior year
- Weight change \>5% of body weight over prior six months
- Currently following a weight-loss program
- Menopause
- Pregnant/nursing
- Greater than 5-day variation in menstrual cycle length month-to-month
- Currently smoking
- Alcohol intake \>14 drinks/week or \>3 drinks/day.
- Use of prescription medications (except oral contraceptives) within one month prior to or during in-lab visits.
- Consumption of illegal drugs or \>500mg per day of caffeine.
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Interventions
Light exposure will be dimmed during the first 4 hours of scheduled wakefulness, with bright light exposure during the nighttime hours of extended wakefulness.
Most daily calories will be given later in the day to shift eating patterns toward the nighttime hours.
Locations(1)
View Full Details on ClinicalTrials.gov
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NCT07329283