Late Morning Meals Linked to Lower Type 2 Diabetes Risk in certain ethnic groups, claims study
Researchers in a recently conducted study reported that risk for developing type 2 diabetes is reduced with meals consumed in the late morning among Hispanic/Latino adults in the US. The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos has provided substantial insights into the implications of meal timing toward the risk of diabetes. Their findings propose that eating more during late morning hours can be a new approach to prevent diabetes. This was published in Diabetes Care by Jin Dai and colleagues. The HCHS/SOL is a multicenter, community-based, prospective cohort study.
The current analysis included 8,868 Hispanic/Latino adults free of diabetes at baseline. Energy intake and baseline meal timing GL were assessed for each meal timing at baseline through two 24-hour dietary recalls by investigators. Incident diabetes cases were identified from annual follow-up calls and visit 2 examinations. Hazard ratios for incident diabetes were estimated with Cox proportional hazards models accounting for the complex survey design.
Results
• The study population had a mean baseline age of 39.0 years (95% CI, 38.4–39.5), with 50.9% being female.
• Over a median follow-up period of 5.8 years (range: 0.8–9.6 years), 1,262 new diabetes cases were recorded.
• The analysis revealed that greater energy intake and GL during the late morning (9:00–11:59 a.m.) were associated with a lower risk of developing diabetes.
• The HR for diabetes was 0.94 (95% CI, 0.91–0.97) per 100-kcal increase in energy intake and 0.93 (95% CI, 0.89–0.97) per 10-unit increase in GL during the late morning.
• Higher energy intake and GL at other times of the day did not show a significant association with diabetes risk.
This study identified a relationship between meal timing and diabetes risk in Hispanic/Latino adults. A higher intake of late-morning calories and greater late-morning glycemic load is inversely associated with incident T2D. The association remained significant after adjustment for multiple variables: diet quantity and quality, sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and chronic conditions.
It also demonstrated that when something was eaten was equally as important as what was eaten. Replacing energy intake or GL from other times of the day with late-morning equivalents showed a comparably reduced risk of diabetes. It may indicate that late-morning meals probably have additional advantages in strategies to prevent diabetes.
The HCHS/SOL study identified late morning as a favorable time for meals to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in Hispanic/Latino adults. This is a new concept for meal timing in the prevention of diabetes that needs further confirmation in future studies. This dietary pattern—characterized by higher late-morning intake of energy and GL—may be one simple but ideal approach to reducing the risk of diabetes in such a population.
Reference:
Dai, J., Nianogo, R., Wong, N. D., Moin, T., McClain, A. C., Alver, S., Cordero, C., Daviglus, M. L., Qi, Q., Sotres-Alvarez, D., & Chen, L. (2024). Energy intake and dietary glycemic load in late morning and risk of type 2 diabetes: The Hispanic Community Health Study/study of Latinos, a multicenter prospective cohort study. Diabetes Care, dc240564. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc24-0564
