When it comes to health, the content of the plate matters, but not only that. Mealtime can also play a determining role. This is the hypothesis proposed this Thursday, December 14, by a study led by the National Institute for Research on Agriculture, Food and Environment (Inrae), in collaboration with Inserm, the Sorbonne University of Paris North and the Global Health Institute of Barcelona.
Its main lesson: the times of the first and last meal of the day could influence the probability of contracting cardiovascular diseases. With this conclusion: both in the morning and in the evening, it is better to eat early.
Eating after 9 p.m. increases the risk of cerebrovascular disease by 28%
The challenges begin at breakfast. “For example, a person who has the habit of eating for the first time at 9 in the morning would have a 6% greater risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease than a person who is used to eating at 8 in the morning,” they summarize. the authors.
Eating “late” could also be harmful. Eating the last meal after 9 p.m. is associated with “a 28% increased risk of cerebrovascular disease, such as stroke, compared to eating the last meal before 8 p.m.” An observation that is verified “particularly among women.”
Women are also very well represented in the sample used in this study. Between 2009 and 2022, around 100,000 people were followed. A group made up of 79% women, and whose average age for all sexes combined is 42 years.
A study with limitations
This observational study, however, has limits, as Jean-Pierre Thierry, a public health doctor, explains to BFMTV.
“The level of evidence (of this study, editor’s note) is low because it is not a randomized study” in which two population groups would be responsible for eating at different times over several years, he believes. “Besides, it’s just declarative.”
The group responsible for this publication points out that its results “must be replicated in other cohorts and through other scientific studies,” but they allow us to consider the “potential role of meal times in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.”
Is a prolonged overnight fast beneficial?
Final lesson from this study: the possible beneficial effect of prolonged overnight fasting, that is, the period between two meals, occupied mainly by sleep. According to this study, a sufficient interval between the last meal in the afternoon and the first in the morning would reduce the probability of developing cerebrovascular disease.
Therefore, the appropriate solution would be an “early combination” of the last meal of the day and the first meal of the next day. A habit change that could save lives. As the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study noted, nearly 8 million deaths related to cardiovascular disorders are attributable to our diet as a whole.
Source: BFM TV
