Beware! Disrupted meal times may increase the risk of heart disease.

Release date:

2020-11-19

The heart is one of the most vital organs in the human body, serving as the central hub of both the cardiovascular and circulatory systems. In recent years, with changes in living conditions and dietary habits, heart health has come under serious threat. According to statistics, approximately 17.5 million people worldwide die from heart disease each year, accounting for 30% of all global deaths. Notably, China ranks first globally in the number of sudden cardiac deaths, and nearly three-quarters of its population currently faces cardiovascular issues.

Although research shows that obtaining nutrients from healthy foods can effectively prevent heart disease, a study recently presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) 2020 Virtual Conference suggests that meal timing also plays a crucial role in maintaining cardiovascular health.

Led by Nour Makarem, an associate researcher at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center, the study team discovered through observing shifts in people’s eating patterns from weekdays to weekends that the daily consistency of food intake is linked to key cardiovascular health risk factors, including waist circumference, body fat, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels.

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At the American Heart Association (AHA) virtual conference held during the same period last year, the research team already highlighted that women who consume more calories in the evening tend to face a higher risk of heart disease, making them more susceptible to hypertension, an elevated Body Mass Index (BMI), and poorer long-term blood sugar control. Building on this finding, the new study further emphasizes that not only the timing of meals but also the regularity of daily eating patterns plays a crucial role in cardiovascular risk.

Based on the information released so far, this study involves 116 women of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds from the AHA’s Go Red for Women strategic research network, aged between 20 and 64 years old.

Over the course of one week, these participants recorded their diet and eating times using an electronic food diary, and repeated this process again after one year. The researchers focused on understanding when participants had their first and last meals of the day, the duration of overnight fasting, and the percentage of daily calories consumed between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

In terms of daily variations in eating patterns, for every 10% increase in calorie expenditure after 5 p.m., participants experienced a nearly 3-percentage-point rise in systolic blood pressure, more than a 2-percentage-point increase in diastolic blood pressure, and a significant change in HbA1c—a key blood glucose measure used to diagnose diabetes.

Additionally, the variability in calorie intake after 8 p.m. each night was associated with participants gaining more than half an inch around their waist and experiencing a BMI increase of over half a point.

When examining the differences in eating patterns between weekdays and weekends, researchers found that later-night eating times and amounts, as well as variations in meal timing, were associated with increases in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and BMI over the course of a year.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that people’s eating habits over the weekend have gotten worse. Researchers believe that the human body tends to synchronize with its environment and functions most efficiently at optimal times—on weekdays, people follow the “social clock,” while on weekends they align with their “natural biological clock.” However, individual organs also have their own unique “clocks,” regulated by the amount of food consumed.

Although this study, presented at the AHA 2020 Virtual Conference, had a small sample size and was limited to women, the insights it offers regarding the importance of meal timing are certainly worth pondering. Regular eating and sleeping patterns are essential for overall health.

Reference:

[1]P806 – Social Jet Lag in Eating Patterns, as a Marker of Meal Timing Variability, Is Associated with Elevated Cardiometabolic Risk in the AHA Go Red for Women Strategically Focused Research Network

[2] Inconsistent meal times linked to heart risks

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