Fast 3 hours before bedtime... 'Effects on improving heart and blood sugar health'

A study found that extending the overnight fasting period by at least 2 hours by not eating anything 3 hours before bedtime can improve major heart and blood sugar health indicators.

Professor Philis' team from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago reported on the 13th that they obtained these results in a randomized controlled trial published in the American Heart Association journal "Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology," which involved adjusting the nighttime fasting period among middle-aged and elderly people.

The research team said that in the group that stopped eating three hours before bedtime, extending the overnight fasting period by two hours, improvements in cardiovascular and metabolic health indicators were confirmed, emphasizing that when you eat is as important as what and how much you eat, in relation to sleep.

Research findings are accumulating that show dietary approaches such as intermittent fasting, which limit meal times, can improve heart metabolic health and have effects comparable to traditional fasting in limiting calorie intake, leading to growing popularity worldwide.

The research team pointed out that most previous studies focused only on how long the fasting period was, but did not pay attention to how fasting interacts with an individual's sleep schedule, which is important for metabolic regulation.

They conducted a randomized controlled trial with 39 middle-aged and elderly people aged 36 to 75, who are at high risk for heart metabolic diseases, dividing them into two groups. One group extended their overnight fasting period to 13-16 hours, while the other group maintained their usual fasting period of 11-13 hours.

Both groups dimmed the lighting 3 hours before bedtime, and the comparative trial was conducted for 7.5 weeks without changing the total caloric intake.

As a result, in the group that fasted for 13 to 16 hours, starting three hours before bedtime, improvements were observed, with a 3.5% and 5% decrease in blood pressure and heart rate during sleep, which are important indicators of cardiovascular health.

The research team said that a clear circadian rhythm was observed, in which the heart beat faster during the day when active and slower at night when resting, and that this strong daily fluctuation is related to improved heart health.

He explained that the pancreas' response to glucose load also improved during the day, indicating that insulin secretion has become more effective and blood sugar levels can be more stable.

Dr. Daniela Grimaldi, the first author of the paper, said, "When fasting time is aligned with the body's natural wake-sleep rhythm, coordination among the heart, metabolism, and sleep improves, and these factors work together to protect cardiovascular health."

The research team stated that an approach restricting food intake time based on sleep duration could be a more accessible non-pharmacological strategy for middle-aged and elderly people at high risk of cardiovascular metabolic diseases, and they plan to refine the research protocol further to conduct a large-scale multi-center clinical trial.

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