Late Night Calories May Harm Glucose Metabolism in Prediabetes and Early Type 2 Diabetes: Study Finds

Dietary interventions are key in preventing and treating type 2 diabetes (T2D). Total energy intake, meal composition, and timing influence glucose excursions. Late eating is associated with poorer glucose metabolism, higher BMI, increased body fat, and greater energy intake, often from processed foods. Consuming more energy later in the day can prolong postprandial glucose excursions and cause circadian misalignment, further impairing glucose metabolism.

Against the above background, Blandine Laferrère, Division of Endocrinology, Nutrition Obesity Research Center, Diabetes Research Center Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA, and colleagues examine how habitual late calorie intake affects glucose metabolism in adults with overweight or obesity and those with diet- or metformin-controlled prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, independent of body weight, fat mass, energy intake, or diet composition.

For this purpose, the researchers classified participants (n = 26) as Later Eaters (LE) if they consumed ≥45% of their daily calories after 5 pm and as Early Eaters (EE) if they did not, based on a two-week assessment of daily caloric intake.

The researchers reported the following findings:

• Later Eaters (LE) did not differ from Early Eaters (EE) in anthropometrics or total daily energy intake.
• LE consumed significantly more carbohydrates and fats after 5 pm compared to EE.
• Fasting glucose, insulin, and C-peptide levels were similar between groups.
• LE exhibited higher glucose concentrations during an oral glucose tolerance test, even after adjusting for body weight, fat mass, energy intake, and diet composition.
• The elevated glucose concentrations in LE persisted when participants with type 2 diabetes were excluded.
• After adjusting for diabetes status, LE showed significantly higher glucose concentrations at 30 and 60 minutes during the glucose tolerance test.

The exploratory study supports previous findings that late calorie consumption is linked to poorer glucose tolerance. Late eating is associated with increased intake of calories, primarily from carbohydrates and fats, which may prolong evening postprandial glucose excursions and contribute to impaired glucose tolerance.

"Our findings indicate that the association between late eating and poorer glucose metabolism is not attributable to higher BMI, body fat, or overall diet composition. Future studies are needed to confirm these results and further investigate the impact of both the composition and timing of the last meal on overnight glucose levels and glucose tolerance," the researchers concluded.

Reference:

A., D., Santos Baez, L. S., Popp, C. J., Borhan, R., Manoogian, E. N., Panda, S., Cheng, B., & Laferrère, B. (2024). Late eating is associated with poor glucose tolerance, independent of body weight, fat mass, energy intake and diet composition in prediabetes or early onset type 2 diabetes. Nutrition & Diabetes, 14(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41387-024-00347-6