Set your alarm! Eating breakfast before 8:30 a.m. may reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, research shows
- Previous studies have suggested that eating daily for a shorter period of time is better
- US researchers analyzed health and nutrition data from 10,574 adults in the US.
- They divided the subjects into groups based on the duration of the meal
- The team found that insulin resistance was lower in those who ate before 8:30 am
Eating breakfast before 8:30 am can lower your insulin resistance, lowering your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a study found.
In people with type 2 diabetes, insulin works, causing glucose to enter and fuel cells not to work properly. Diabetics are at risk for serious health complications.
These can include damage to the eyes, heart, and feet – in patients treated with dietary changes, medications, weight loss, and exercise.
US experts analyzed health and nutrition data from more than 10,500 adults to see how the time and duration of daily consumption affects diabetes risk factors.
The work is inspired by previous studies that suggested that ‘timed eating’ – eating only in a shorter time frame during the day – improves metabolic health.
Eating breakfast before 8:30 am can lower your blood sugar and insulin resistance, lowering your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a study found.
“We found that people who started eating earlier in the day had lower blood sugar and less insulin resistance,” said paper author and endocrinologist Marriam Ali of Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.
This, she added, was “regardless of whether they limited their food intake to less than 10 hours a day or whether their food intake was spread out over 13 hours a day.”
“With an increase in metabolic disorders such as diabetes, we wanted to increase our understanding of nutritional strategies to address this growing concern.”
In their study, the team analyzed data on the health and dietary intake of 10,574 American adults enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
They divided the subjects into six groups based on both their total duration of food intake – less than 10 hours during the day, 10–13 hours, and more than 13 hours – and on whether they took them every day before or after 8:30 a.m. ate for the first time. am.
The researchers then compared each group to investigate how the duration and time of daily consumption could affect fasting blood sugar levels and estimated levels of inulin resistance.
The team’s analysis found that fasting blood sugar levels did not differ significantly between the groups.
However, they found that insulin resistance was higher in those who ate for a shorter period of time during the day – and lower in all groups who started eating before 8:30 am.
“These findings suggest that timing is more strongly associated with metabolic measures than with duration, and support early eating strategies,” concluded Dr. Ali.
The full findings of the study will be presented at ENDO 2021, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, held virtually March 20-23, 2021.