Eating early breakfast can protect against type 2 diabetes. (Stock, Getty Images)
Studies have shown that early breakfast before 8:30 a.m. can ward off type 2 diabetes.
The relatively common condition occurs when a person’s blood sugar rises to dangerously high levels because the body doesn’t make enough of the hormone insulin or doesn’t respond to it.
Unlike type 1 diabetes, type 2 is linked to being overweight or obese. A healthy lifestyle is known to help prevent the disease.
Scientists at Northwestern University have now found that people who eat before 8:30 a.m. have decreased insulin resistance. when the body does not respond to the hormone.
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Finger prick tests help diabetic patients keep track of their blood sugar levels. (Stock, Getty Images)
In the UK, 3.9 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes, around 90% of whom have type 2. In the United States, 34.2 million – 10.5% of the population – have diabetes. Type 2 in 90% to 95% of the cases.
Research into healthy eating habits has produced mixed results.
Some studies suggest that people should eat six small meals a day rather than hearty breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Others recommend eating breakfast like a king, eating lunch like a prince, and dining like a poor man, with increasingly small meals offered throughout the day to promote health.
Fasting, in which eating is limited to a set period of time, has also been linked to improved metabolic wellbeing. defined as the absence of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
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“We found that people who started eating earlier in the day had lower blood sugar levels and less insulin resistance, whether they restricted their food intake to less than 10 hours a day or more than 13 hours a day distributed. ” said lead researcher Dr. Marriam Ali.
Insulin resistance can be a warning sign of type 2 diabetes.
In addition to high blood sugar levels, insulin resistance affects a person’s metabolism, which describes how foods are broken down into proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
The story goes on
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The Northwestern scientists analyzed more than 10,500 adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
“With the rise in metabolic disorders like diabetes, we wanted to broaden our understanding of nutritional strategies to address this growing problem,” said Dr. Ali.
The adults were divided into three groups according to the daily mealtimes – less than 10 hours, 10 to 13 hours and more than 13 hours.
Six subgroups were then created based on when food was first consumed.
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The results, presented virtually at the ENDO 2021 meeting of the Endocrine Society, suggest that the blood sugar levels of the participants did not differ in the three groups.
However, insulin resistance was higher in people with a shorter eating interval and lower in people who ate before 8:30 a.m.
“These results suggest that timing is more related to metabolic actions than duration and supports early eating strategies,” said Dr. Ali.
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