Why eating in the middle of the night can cause gastrointestinal issues

Eating when the body is normally asleep appears to desynchronize the circadian clocks of different cell types in the intestines, a UT Southwestern Medical Center study suggests. The findings, published in PNAS, could help explain why shift work, jet lag and other environmental stressors that affect circadian rhythms are associated with irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, constipation and other gastrointestinal disorders.