Diet is not the only thing that can improve cardiovascular health, adopting this meal timing is also important.
Diet is not the only thing that can improve cardiovascular health, adopting this meal timing is also important.
Particular eating habits such as having an early breakfast or late dinner can make a positive or negative impact on cardiovascular health.
According to a study, an early eating schedule coupled with longer overnight fasting will benefit cardiometabolic health markers including reduced weight, lower blood pressure, and lower blood glucose levels.
Whereas skipping breakfast and late-night eating are associated with cardiometabolic risk factors such as weight gain, high blood glucose, hypertension, and high levels of low-density lipoprotein known as “bad” cholesterol.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the most common cause of death globally, taking more than 18 million lives every year.
Over 40 percent of CVD deaths are related to poor dietary habits and unhealthy diets suggesting the importance of diet in developing or preventing heart related diseases.
Poor eating patterns like skipping breakfast, snacking, or late-night eating are a consequence of the modern Western lifestyle.
Chrono-nutrition insights
Daily eating (light phase) and fasting at night (dark phase) synchronises the the peripheral clocks of different organs related to the cardiovascular system, such as blood pressure regulation.
In recent years, scientists have been attracted to a new filed called chrono-nutrition that examines the link between the timing of eating, circadian rhythms and health.
This study looked at the relationship between dietary intake patterns and heart disease.
They found that for every hour’s delay of eating the first meal there was a six percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
For instance, if you eat your breakfast at 8 a.m. you are 6 percent less likely to have a heart attack than a person who eats at 9 o’clock in the morning.
With regard to the last meal of the day, the risk was even higher.
The odds of cerebrovascular disease (ischemic stroke, mini stroke, and stroke) went up 8 percent for each extra hour in putting off the last meal of the day.
The risk of cerebrovascular disease was 28 percent higher for people who ate at 9 p.m. than those who had their last meal before 8 o’clock in the evening.
The risk was more prominent among women.
Overnight fasting
Moreover, the research team found that a longer period of overnight fasting (the gap between dinner and breakfast) reduced the odds of cerebrovascular disease.
This finding encourages the idea of having breakfast and the final meal of the day as early as possible.
The authors 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.”
Related
About the author
Mina Dean is a Nutritionist and Food Scientist. She holds a BSc in Human Nutrition and an MSc in Food Science.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications…
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