Name of study: Eating during the night can increase glucose levels By who and where: Harvard Medical School, USA; University of Cologne, Germany; Women’s Hospital, Boston
What does it say?
✥ Those who eat at night were found to have raised blood sugar, up to 6.4 percent from the baseline.
✥ This caused disruptions between the body’s central clock and its sleep pattern. On the other hand, eating during the day helped avoid this.
✥ The study shows that night-shift workers such as grocery stockers, those working in the hospitality industry, truck drivers, call centre employees etc should adhere to standard mealtimes to avoid the effects of impaired blood sugar. This may improve their health considerably.
For
Do not eat late
Dr Subhash Kumar Wangnoo, Senior Consultant - Endocrinology & Diabetology, Apollo Centre for Obesity, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi
Recent studies have shown that being overweight or obese is more prevalent in shift workers than day workers. People who eat during the dead of night can develop various metabolic disorders, such as insulin resistance, leading to high blood sugar, and abnormal cholesterol values, in addition to a condition called metabolic syndrome. Add to this the fact that those who work at night don’t burn enough calories; therefore, health issues such as depression, sleep disturbances, or even developing certain types of cancer is possible.
Against
There is more to it
Dr Manjunath Malige, Chief Endocrinologist and Diabetologist, Aster RV Hospital, JP Nagar, Bengaluru
For people who follow a regular working day and night routine, this is easy to follow. However, for night shift workers, eating at standard hours is not possible or practical. In fact, not eating when hungry (even night time in their case) can alter biological functioning. To say that those who eat late in the night are more prone to health disorders is not entirely correct. Lack of exercise, oversleeping, skipping meals or not eating healthy, are all equal risk factors.