Testing Whether Dinner Timing Affects Metabolism in Adults With Obesity or Prediabetes

Who can take part

• For the Normal-Weight Healthy (NWH) cohort: Healthy male and female adults, age 18-50, with BMI 18-24.9 kg/m2 inclusively
• For the Obesity-Prediabetes (OPD) cohort: Male and female adults, age 18-50, with BMI ≥30 kg/m2 and prediabetes
• All participants must be able to understand study procedures, to comply with the procedures for the entire length of the study and be fully mobile

Who cannot take part

• Current drug or alcohol use or dependence that, in the opinion of the site investigator, would interfere with adherence to study requirements
• Pregnant or lactating female (pregnancy test will be required prior to metabolic visits)
• Participants who have travelled across time zones must have adequate time to recover from jet lag prior to enrollment (i.e., at least 3 days per time zone). Travel across >1 time zone after enrollment in the study will not be permitted
• Use of medications that can affect circadian rhythm (beta blockers, melatonin)
• Prior bariatric surgery
• Sleep disorder including insomnia, untreated moderate-severe sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, or narcolepsy
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease that affects ability to tolerate a dinner close to bedtime
• Diabetes (type 1 or 2) or on any diabetes medications besides metformin
• Evidence of metabolic or cardiovascular disease, or disease that may influence metabolism (e.g. cancer, thyroid disease)
• Self-reported kidney disease
• Any known history of an inherited metabolic disorder
• Gastrointestinal disorders that can lead to obstruction of the digestive tract (i.e. diverticular disease, history of bowel obstruction, inflammatory bowel disease, motility disorder)
• History of any surgical procedures in the gastrointestinal tract
• Swallowing disorders
• Taking any prescription medication or other drug that may influence metabolism (e.g. diet/weight-loss medication, asthma medication, blood pressure medication, psychiatric medications, corticosteroids, or other medications at the discretion of the PI and/or study team)
• Presence of a cardiac pacemaker or other implanted electro-medical devices
• Volunteers with strict dietary concerns (e.g. vegetarian or kosher diet, food allergies)
• History of significant intravenous access issues
• Other conditions or situations at the discretion of the PI
• Hemoglobin A1c ≥5.7% for NWH cohort; Hemoglobin A1c ≥6.5% for OPD cohort
• Hemoglobin < 10 g/dL
• Night shift work
• Extreme delayed sleep phase defined as self-reported routine bedtime later than 1:00 AM or having mid-sleep on free days later than 5:00 AM on the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ) or DLMO later than 24:00
• Active smoking
• Peri-menopausal or post-menopausal female as determined by follicle stimulating hormone of > 30 mIU/mL or fewer than 3 menstrual periods in 6 months
• Professional or collegiate athlete
• Weight less than 40 kg or more than 180 kg
• Chronic use of sedative hypnotics, anxiolytics, opiates
• Those who have to undergo strong electromagnetic field during the period of use of the ingestible thermosensor (i.e. MRI)
• Weight loss or gain of ≥ 5% of total body weight over the preceding 3 months
• Currently participating in a weight loss program
• Non-English speaking individuals: The complexity of the instructions for various components of the study would make the study procedures difficult to follow in the setting of a language barrier

Other criteria

• The investigators are enrolling both Normal-Weight Healthy (NWH) and Obesity-Prediabetes (OPD) research participants