A balanced diet is essential for good health. If diet is essential, another factor may need to be taken into account, namely the time of day when we eat. Indeed, researchers from the Open University of Catalonia, in Spain, looked at the impact of meal times on health.
More specifically, experts found that people who used to consume 45% of their daily calorie intake after 5 p.m. had an increase in glucose levels (the level of sugar in the blood) regardless of the diet. the person’s weight and body fat. This increases the risk of cardiovascular complications and type 2 diabetes. Their results are published in the revue Nutrition & Diabetes.
Late meals are more likely to be rich in carbohydrates and fats
To arrive at these results, the researchers based themselves on a panel of 26 participants aged 50 to 70 years old. The latter were overweight, obese, or had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The volunteers’ eating habits were collected. To do this, the specialists asked the participants to use a mobile application to record their meals in real time.
The experts collected the participants’ glucose tolerance levels and categorized them based on their eating habits, namely those who tended to consume their calorie intake before 5 p.m. (the early-eating group) and after 5 p.m. (the late eaters group).
The experts noted in their results that people who were part of the “late eaters” group tended to consume larger quantities. carbohydrates (sugar) and lipids (fats) in the evening, characterized by ultra-processed foods. According to them, this can be explained by a dysregulation of hormones that regulate hunger, as well as the feeling of satiety which can be altered in people who do not eat enough during the day.
Eating mainly at the end of the day increases the risk of type 2 diabetes
The authors also found that participants in the “late eaters” group had “poorer glucose tolerance, regardless of their weight or the composition of their diet.” In a press release, researcher Díaz Rizzolo, member of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Open University of Catalonia, emphasizes that this increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, but also of cardiovascular risk. The latter reminds us that at night, the body’s ability to metabolize glucose is limited, in particular due to the circadian rhythm.
Also, when composing menus, researchers recommend taking into account the quantity and quality of food, but also the time at which we eat. Díaz Rizzolo advises “consume the greatest amounts of calories throughout the day at breakfast and lunch, rather than snack and dinner.”
Near Current WomanLaurent Dufay, dietitian nutritionist, advised eating the last meal of the day three hours before going to bed.
Sources :
- Late eating is associated with poor glucose tolerance, independent of body weight, fat mass, energy intake and diet composition in prediabetes or early onset type 2 diabetes – Nutrition & Diabetes – 25/10/2024
- The time of day when we eat is crucial for our health – Open University of Catalonia – 11/19/24
