A group of scientists recently discovered that an enzyme known as Nocturnin can regulate metabolism and energy expenditure throughout the day.
In fact, Nocturnin is an enzyme found inside the mitochondria of cells.

We have known for several years that an alteration in the circadian rhythm, for example in those who work at night or go to bed well after midnight and wake up late in the morning, results in a metabolic slowdown, with a greater risk of metabolic syndrome.

This means more visceral fat and more belly, higher cholesterol and triglycerides, high stress.
Same thing in people who sleep very little at night and in frequent travelers who switch from day to night on intercontinental flights.

The metabolic alteration would be linked to the behavior of Nocturnina.

NOCTURNINA.
THE ENZYME THAT AFFECTS METABOLISM ACCORDING TO OUR ORGANIC WATCH

It has recently been clarified how this enzyme acts to regulate metabolism according to the time of day and that it is found partly in the mitochondria and partly in the cell cytosol.

This protein would regulate the metabolism of both fats and sugars, stimulating lipogenesis, osteogenesis, lipolysis.

Professors Korennykh and Rabinowitz, biochemists, and Professor Schedl, a biologist at Princeton, found that nocturnin regulates specific metabolites , stimulating energy production and protecting cells from damage.

Nocturnin works by removing a phosphate group from NADP + and NADPH molecules, molecules central to metabolism. This causes NAD + and NADH molecules to be obtained which regulate energy production by breaking down biomolecules such as glucose.

Upon awakening, the Nocturnin is higher, and this would push the body to search for food, stimulating the production of energy.

NOCTURNINA: WHAT DOES ITS WORKING TELL US ABOUT METABOLISM?

On the other hand, however, the mice that due to a genetic defect were less exposed to the production of Nocturnin (NOCT – / -) with a high-fat diet gained less weight and had reduced cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as a lower risk of hepatic steatosis. .
However, they did not exhibit high levels of metabolism, high temperatures, better brown fat concentration, and produced less insulin.

It is not known what would happen if instead of a high-fat diet they were placed on a high-sugar diet.

Some researchers speculate that they may have hyperglycemia, but that explains why only these mice did not gain weight on a high-fat diet.

From what I understand from reading the studies, if Nocturnin regulates fat metabolism so deeply in the intestine , it should be understood whether a low-fat diet can prevent cholesterol or triglycerides or overweight in people who do not have the same genetic defect as aforementioned mice.
But in which Nocturnina works as it should.

And also how sleep / wake rhythms affect Nocturnin.

Let’s say I sleep during the day and may therefore have low levels of Nocturnina: at this point should I eat more fat to be thin?

Or the case in the morning: if the Nocturnina is high upon waking, does this mean that breakfast must be low in fat to stimulate the production of energy from what we eat?

Maybe.
At the moment the studies do not offer practical solutions for us poor humans.

However, the researchers explain that if we decipher the behavior of Nocturnina and how food and the different macronutrients (sugars, fats) affect it at particular times of the day, we would arrive at the most important discovery of the last 100 years on human metabolism.
That is a discovery capable of solving the problem of obesity forever.