The time people have breakfast could help reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, researchers have said.
A team from the Northwestern University in Chicago have found evidence to suggest that eating 8:30am in the morning lowers lower blood sugar levels and less insulin resistance is experienced.
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Lead researcher Dr Marriam Ali said: “We found people who started eating earlier in the day had lower blood sugar levels and less insulin resistance, regardless of whether they restricted their food intake to less than 10 hours a day or their food intake was spread over more than 13 hours daily.
“With a rise in metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, we wanted to expand our understanding of nutritional strategies to aid in addressing this growing concern.”
The trial involved analysing data from more than 10,000 people who had previously taken part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
They were divided up into three groups depending on their total duration of food intake, which were less than 10 hours, 10-13 hours, and more than 13 hours per day.
From those findings, the research team delved deeper into the data and created subgroups based on when people chose to start eating.
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They were then able to look at their timings and daily patterns and compare them to the people’s blood sugar levels, which found those who started eating before 830 in the morning and lower blood sugar levels.
Dr Ali added: “These findings suggest that timing is more strongly associated with metabolic measures than duration, and support early eating strategies.”
The findings were virtually unveiled at ENDO 2021, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting.
