You have lunch at about midday and dinner in the evening – which might simply be habit but is more likely to be because the body requires more energy at certain times of day.

    This indicated to scientists that there must be a link between human metabolism and the circadian clock, the internal mechanism that keeps track of time and regulates the body accordingly. 

    The connection proved elusive, however.

    This week researchers at the University of California, Irvine, claim to have solved the mystery. 

    The missing link is a protein called SIRT1 that is already known to have life-extending properties. Red wine, which in moderation is thought to enhance health, contains the chemical resveratrol, which boosts production of SIRT1. 

    One implication of the research is that faults in the SIRT1 mechanism might influence behaviour, including the overeating that leads to obesity. According to team leader Paolo Sassone-Corsi, it might be possible in future to treat some metabolic disorders by manipulating the mechanism. 

    我们大约在正午时分吃午饭，在晚上吃晚饭——这可能只是一种习惯，但更有可能是因为身体在一天的特定时间需要更多的能量。

    这就提醒科学家，人体的新陈代谢与生物钟之间一定存在某种联系，一种感知时间并据此调节身体的内部机能。

    然而，这种联系很难弄清楚。

    本周，加州大学欧文分校(University of California, Irvine)的研究人员宣称已揭开此谜。

    这一环就是被称为SIRT1的蛋白质，人们已知它具有延长寿命的功能。人们认为，适当饮用红酒可促进健康，而红酒中就含有加速SIRT1生成的化合物白藜芦醇。

    此项研究的一个推论就是，SIRT1机能出现问题可能会影响人类的行为习惯，包括导致肥胖的过度饮食行为。据研究小组负责人Paolo Sassone-Corsi表示，未来有可能会通过调控该机能来治疗一些新陈代谢紊乱。