Having a late breakfast increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by nearly two thirds.
Those who breakfasted after 9 A.M. were 59 percent more likely to develop the condition than those who were done by 8 A.M.
A late dinner, after 10 P.M, also increased the risk, while eating five times a day reduced it.
Researchers looked at more than 100,000 people in France over a period of seven years.
The Spanish team said the results show that we can reduce the risk of diabetes not only by changing what we eat, but also when we eat it.
Dr. Anna Palomar-Cros, researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and first author of the study said: “Biologically, this makes sense, as skipping breakfast is known to affect glucose and lipid control, as well as insulin levels.
“This is consistent with two meta-analyses that conclude that skipping breakfast increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.
“We know that meal timing plays a key role in regulating circadian rhythms and glucose and lipid control, but few studies have investigated the relationship between meal timing or fasting and type 2 diabetes.”
Type 2 diabetes is also associated with modifiable risk factors, such as an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and smoking.
A team from ISGlobal joined at team from INSERM in France to investigate 103,312 adults, 79 percent women, from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort.
Participants filled in online dietary records of what they ate and drank over a 24-hour period on three non-consecutive days, as well as the timing of their meals.
The research team averaged the dietary records for the first two years of follow-up and assessed the participants’ health over an average of seven years.
There were 963 new cases of type 2 diabetes during the study.
The risk of developing the disease was significantly higher in the group of people who regularly ate breakfast after 9 A.M., compared to those who ate breakfast before 8 A.M.
However prolonged fasting is only beneficial if it is done by having breakfast before 8am and an early dinner.
Professor Manolis Kogevinas, ISGlobal researcher and co-author of the study added:
“Our results suggest that a first meal before 8 A.M. and a last meal before 7 P.M. may help reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes.”
Produced in association with SWNS Talker
