Late Dinner timing significantly affects glucose metabolism, increases insulin resistance

The researchers found an association between delayed dinner timing with lower fasting insulin and insulin resistance. The negative effect of dinner timing on homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and fasting insulin (FINS) was shown to diminish with age.

"Delayed dinner timing in women was associated with reduced fasting insulin and HOMA-IR for insulin resistance index; however in men, it was associated with increased fasting plasma glucose," Kaiyang Zhang, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China, and colleagues reported.

Previous studies have shown meal timing to be a major risk factor for metabolic disease. The team aimed to evaluate the relationship between dinner timing and glucose metabolism in the rural Chinese population in a cross-sectional study.

The study included 7701 participants from a Henan rural cohort study. In-person questionnaires were used to collect basic information. The relationship between dinner timing and FINS, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and HOMA-IR) were evaluated using multiple linear regression analysis. The dose–response relationship between dinner timing and FINS, HOMA-IR, and FPG was investigated by employing a restricted cubic spline. The interaction effect of age and dinner timing on FPG, fasting insulin, and HOMA-IR were also explored.

The study revealed the following findings:

• After adjusting for confounding factors, FINS concentration was reduced by 0.482 mmol/L for each hour delay in dinner timing.
• The HOMA-IR index decreased by 0.122 mmol/L for each hour delay.
• A noticeable trend of decreasing values associated with later dinner timing was observed.
• The interaction between age and dinner time significantly correlated with FINS and HOMA-IR. This relationship was statistically significant before 69 y.
• Fasting insulin and the homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance index showed a linear dose–response relationship with dinner timing.

"We observed a significant association between dinner timing and glucose metabolism in the rural Chinese population," the researchers wrote. "Delayed dinner timing may be associated with lower fasting insulin.

"With age, the negative effect of dinner timing on FINS and HOMA-IR was diminished."

Reference:

Zhang, K., Feng, Y., Chai, Y., Wang, C., & Yu, S. (2023). Association between dinner timing and glucose metabolism in rural China: A large-scale cross-sectional study. Nutrition, 115, 112158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2023.112158