A groundbreaking study involving more than 100,000 participants has revealed a surprising link between the timing of meals and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The research, which included contributions from ISGlobal, supported by “la Caixa” Foundation, followed a large French cohort to reach its findings.
The study’s main conclusion is striking: eating breakfast after 9 a.m. can increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 59%, compared to those who eat before 8 a.m.
This discovery highlights a critical aspect of diabetes prevention: not only what we eat matters, but also when we eat.
Type 2 diabetes is often linked to lifestyle factors such as poor diet, lack of exercise, and smoking. However, this study sheds light on another important aspect: meal timing.
Anna Palomar-Cros, a researcher at ISGlobal and the study’s first author, explains that while it’s known that meal timing influences circadian rhythms and the control of glucose and lipids in the body, few studies have explored the direct relationship between meal timing, fasting, and the risk of type 2 diabetes.
In their approach, the ISGlobal team collaborated with INSERM in France. They studied 103,312 adults (of which 79% were women) from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort. Participants recorded what and when they ate over 24 hours on three non-consecutive days.
These dietary records, averaged over the first two years of follow-up, were then related to the participants’ health over an average of seven years.
During the study, 963 new cases of type 2 diabetes were identified. The risk was notably higher among those who regularly had breakfast after 9 a.m. compared to those who had it before 8 a.m.
Palomar-Cros notes that this finding aligns with previous research showing that skipping breakfast negatively impacts glucose control, lipid levels, and insulin.
The study also observed that eating dinner late (after 10 p.m.) appeared to increase diabetes risk. On the other hand, eating more frequently, around five times a day, was linked to a lower incidence of the disease.
Interestingly, prolonged fasting showed benefits only when combined with an early breakfast (before 8 a.m.) and an early dinner.
Manolis Kogevinas, a co-author of the study and ISGlobal researcher, suggests that having the first meal before 8 a.m. and the last meal before 7 p.m. could help reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes.
This research isn’t the first from ISGlobal to emphasize the importance of meal timing. Previously, they found a connection between early dinners and a reduced risk of breast or prostate cancer.
Collectively, these findings underscore the growing field of chrononutrition—the study of how diet, circadian rhythms, and health are interconnected.
This approach is increasingly being recognized as a potential strategy for preventing type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases.
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The study findings can be found in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
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