A study has found that consuming at least 45% of daily calories after 5pm impairs the body’s ability to control blood sugar levels. Eating late at night can increase the risk of diabetes to dangerous levels.
The results of a study conducted at the Universitat Autònoma de Catalunya in Barcelona and Columbia University may provide some scientific evidence for intermittent fasting, a diet that restricts eating after dusk.
About 10% of Americans use intermittent fasting as a diet. Those who follow this method typically eat within a six-hour window (from 11am to 5pm) and eat most of their meals early in the day.
Dr. Diana Diaz-Rizzolo, a co-author of the study, said that the body’s ability to metabolize glucose is limited at night because insulin secretion is reduced and our cells’ sensitivity to this hormone is reduced due to the circadian rhythm (the body’s internal clock).
The study, published in Nutrition and Diabetes, studied 26 people between the ages of 50 and 75 who were either overweight or obese and had prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.
These people were divided into two groups, early eaters and late eaters. They were given the same food, in the same quantity but at different times.
The study found that those who ate more after 5 p.m. had higher glucose levels after a glucose test.
