Your liver keeps its own time

For a long time we assumed the master clock in the brain ran every other clock in the body. Light reaches the eye, the brain sets the time, and the organs follow.

Then we gave mice food only during the hours they would normally sleep. The clock in the brain stayed with light and dark. The clock in the liver shifted to follow the food.

That experiment changed how I think about meals. Food is not only fuel. It is a signal that tells your organs what time it is. Eat at random hours and your liver is left guessing.