The Times
Eating Early Cuts Heart Attack and Stroke Risk
A study has found that eating dinner after 9pm was linked to higher rates of stroke, especially in women showing “sensitivity to insulin and to elevated glucose concentration are greatest in the early morning and decline over the day”, suggesting that the body’s metabolism “is prepared to anticipate and digest energy sources at specific times of the day”.
Overall, each hour’s delay at breakfast was linked to a 6 per cent higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Eating after 9pm was linked to a 28 per cent increase in the risk of cerebrovascular disease such as stroke, compared with eating before 8pm.
And a longer overnight fast — the time between the last meal of one day and the first meal of the next — was linked to a lower chance of cerebrovascular disease, the researchers found.
Restricting food intake to a certain time window is an increasingly popular type of diet, and the researchers said: “Considering evidence on the negative impacts of delaying the first and the last meal of the day, it is reasonable to think that it would be better to practice time-restricted eating by having an early first and last meal of the day.”
Almost 80 per cent of the 103,389 participants were women, and the average age was 42.
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, with 18.6 million deaths recorded in 2019.
Earlier research on diet and heart health has typically focused on the quantity and quality of foods consumed. However, “chrononutrition”, or the relationship between the timing of food intake, circadian rhythms and health , is a growing field of research.
The researchers said their findings would need to be replicated in other large groups and different settings but said they were consistent with earlier experiments.
They concluded: “These findings suggest that, beyond the nutritional quality of the diet itself, recommendations related to meal timing for patients and citizens may help promoting a better cardiometabolic health.”
Tracy Parker, dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, said: “We already know that diet has a huge impact on your heart health. This interesting study adds to other research that suggests that the timing of our eating habits could also play a role in the risk of developing heart and circulatory diseases.
“There appears to be a link between our internal body clock, digestion and the absorption of nutrients. Our body’s circadian rhythms — its natural daily cycle — are designed for eating in the day and sleeping at night. If they are disrupted, this could have implications for our heart health.
“It is important to note that whilst these studies show an association, it is difficult to tell whether the risks are from meal timings alone. More research is needed to know for sure how meal timings influence our health. For now, it is more important to focus on what you eat and to try to stick to a regular meal pattern. However, eating earlier in the day rather than late at night is unlikely to be harmful and could help our health.” – The Times
