We often hear that dinner should be eaten earlier and lighter, which is healthier. And a new study provides scientific support for that claim.
Researchers at Columbia University Irvine Medical Center recently published a study in the journal Nutrition & Diabetes entitled: 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.
The study showed that consuming more than 45 percent of daily calories after 5 p.m. led to an increase in blood sugar levels, which had harmful health consequences regardless of an individual’s weight, body fat, total calories consumed, and the type of food consumed.
The research team said that maintaining high blood sugar levels for a long period of time may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, and damage to blood vessels from high blood sugar can increase cardiovascular risk, as well as increase chronic inflammation and worsen cardiovascular and metabolic damage.
It was previously thought that the main consequence of eating a late dinner was weight gain. This is linked to people’s tendency to make poorer dietary choices at night, such as consuming more ultra-processed foods, because the hormones that regulate feelings of hunger and fullness are altered when a person does not eat during the day.
The study included 26 overweight or obese participants between the ages of 50-70 who had pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes. The research team compared the glucose tolerance levels of these participants and divided them into two groups: early eaters (who ate less than 45 percent of their calories after 5 p.m.) and late eaters (who ate 45 percent or more of their calories after 5 p.m.).
Both groups consumed the same calories and the same foods throughout the day, just at different points in time. The participants used a mobile app to record their diet in real time.
The research team found that regardless of the participants’ weight or dietary structure, late eaters were less tolerant of glucose, and that these late eaters tended to eat more carbohydrates and fat in the evening.
According to the research team, our body’s ability to metabolize glucose at night is limited due to reduced insulin secretion at night and our cells’ sensitivity to insulin is also reduced due to circadian rhythms, determined by the central clock in our brain, which is coordinated with the time of day and night.
People often focus on the two basic issues of diet – how much and what to eat, and the importance of this new study is that it reminds us that the impact of diet on health also depends on when we eat. The time of day at which you eat is enough to have a negative impact on glucose metabolism, regardless of how many calories you consume during the day, as well as your weight and body fat.
Given these findings, the team suggests that we should eat during the day, and that the highest calorie intake throughout the day should be at breakfast and lunch, rather than afternoon tea and dinner. In addition, we should also try to avoid ultra-processed products, fast food and high-carbohydrate foods, especially at night.
Of course, many people will feel that since there are so many “diet” for dinner, is it better not to eat dinner directly? Research confirms: The answer is no!
The research team at Southern Medical University found 139 obese people with a BMI between 28 and 45 and conducted a live practice for one year.
The researchers randomly divided the participants into two groups: Group A adopted a time-limited + energy-limited diet: only allowed to eat between 8:00 and 16:00, while limiting the overall calories, referred to as no dinner group; Group B only adopted the energy-limited diet: you can eat at any time but need to control the overall calories, referred to as the evenly eat less group. (The energy requirements for both groups were 1500-1800 kcal for men and 1200-1600 kcal for women.)
The final results showed that skipping dinner did not cause much weight loss, and it was difficult to stick to it; Skipping dinner tends to lose weight more slowly than eating even less.In addition, skipping dinner for a long time can bring health risks.Decreased resistance. Our organs need adequate nutrition to function properly. If you do not eat dinner for a long time, the body organs lack nutrition, then the resistance will naturally decline.
Damage to the spleen and stomach. The young man who does not eat dinner for a long time suffers from gastric ulcer, which can even lead to stomach cancer. This is because when we are hungry, we secrete stomach acid, and if there is too much stomach acid, it is easy to damage the gastric mucosa, and then cause a series of stomach diseases.Affects brain function. The body’s own blood sugar is low at night, if you do not eat dinner, the blood sugar in the body will be lower, the brain will not get enough nutrition, and naturally affect brain function.
Prone to gallstones. Many people think that gallstones are only related to skipping breakfast. In fact, when we do not eat dinner, we are in an empty stomach state, and the cholesterol concentration in the bile in the body increases, which is also easy to lead to gallstones.Therefore, three meals a day, eating regularly, is a necessary magic weapon for a healthy life.
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