Late Night Meal Raises Risk Of Diabetes, Heart Disease

There is a well-known link between eating late and weight gain and now new findings suggest it also increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

The study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, United States, U.S., found that eating later raises glucose and insulin levels, which are implicated in diabetes.

Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases in which there are high blood sugar levels over a prolonged period.
Similarly, late-night meals also raise cholesterol and triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood, both of which can increase the risk of heart disease.

On its part, cardiovascular disease generally refers to conditions that involve narrowed or blocked blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack, chest pain (angina) or stroke.

Other heart conditions, such as those that affect the heart’s muscle, valves or rhythm, also are considered forms of heart disease.

Furthermore, in line with previous studies, the research discovered that late-night meals caused people to gain weight by reducing the body’s ability to burn fat.

In addition, the findings from the study further confirmed that eating late at night has a host of negative health effects.

Food is consumed late at night is meal taken anywhere from after dinner time to a person’s typical sleep/wake cycle.

Lead author and Research Associate, Professor of Psychology, Namni Goel said, “We know from our sleep loss studies that when you’re sleep deprived, it negatively affects weight and metabolism in part due to late-night eating, but now these early findings, which control for sleep, give a more comprehensive picture of the benefits of eating earlier in the day.”

According to a report on the ‘mailonline’, the researchers discovered that when participants ate later, compared to when they ate during the daytime, their weight increased.

They found late-night meals caused people to gain weight by reducing their body’s fat metabolism – the process by which fats are broken down and used for energy.

Tests revealed that eating later led the participants to metabolise fewer lipids or fats. It was also found that delayed eating led them to store carbohydrates – which can lead to weight gain and raised blood sugar and insulin levels.

Similarly, indeed insulin and fasting glucose were found to be higher when people ate later, and their cholesterol and triglyceride levels rose too.

Categories: Food And Nutrition