Want to lower your risk of heart issues? Follow this fasting strategy, study says
We’ve all heard the early bird gets the worm. After reviewing a recent article in Nature Communications, I would add the worm-eating early bird has also lowered their risk for heart disease.
We’ve seen research on the beneficial impact of eating early, not eating late and intermittent fasting. This article, using data from a large French study of 103,389 adults, puts these variables together.
A 2021 article in The Journal of Neurochemistry defined chrononutrition as an emerging field building on the relationship between eating patterns, circadian rhythms and metabolic health. The information on intermittent fasting comes from that study. And this article takes a deeper dive with specific meal times.
This study had a seven-year follow-up period. The findings were that the later the first meal of the day was eaten, the higher the risk of cerebrovascular (CVD) disease, a condition that affects blood flow and the blood vessels in the brain. A first meal before 8 a.m. had the lowest risk of CVD.
And as a Miamian I know this won’t be popular, but when the last meal of the day is eaten after 9 p.m., compared with before 8 p.m., the risk of cerebrovascular disease rises by 8% with each hour of delay. Eating after 9 p.m. increases the risk by 28 percent.
When the last meal of the day is eaten earlier, there is a longer period of overnight fasting, also called time-restricted eating (TRE). There is a growing body of evidence that extending this period to over 12 hours could be linked to an improvement of multiple key indicators of cardiovascular health. These include decreased blood pressure, increased insulin sensitivity and lower body weight.
The bottom lines: The gap between your last meal of the day and the first meal of the next day should be at least 12 hours to get the maximum cardiovascular benefits.
Sheah Rarback MS, RDN is a registered dietitian nutritionist in private practice in Miami.
This story was originally published January 25, 2024 at 5:00 AM.