They say timing is everything. And it turns out when it comes to heart disease for folks with diabetes, that old saw is true.
Because new research finds that when you eat certain foods may be just as critical as what you’re eating. And with diabetes, it may be that timing turns out to be as important as portion size and calories.
In fact, you may even be able to indulge in some “forbidden” foods every once in a while if you time them correctly. And even more importantly, when you align your eating to synch up with this specific cycle, it could actually improve your health and reduce your risk of dying from heart disease.
I’ll explain exactly what the cycle is in just a moment. But first, let’s take a closer look at the study that uncovered this exciting new information.
WHEN you eat as important as WHAT
Researchers took a deep dive into the data from 4,642 volunteers with diabetes who were enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination survey. Their goal was to determine the participant’s risk of dying from heart disease.
After a bunch of number crunching and analysis, a clear pattern emerged. The scientists found that the volunteers who ate specific types of foods at certain times of the day had something in common.
The study participants were significantly LESS likely to die from heart disease when they ate MORE of their…
- potatoes and starchy vegetables in the morning
- whole grains in the afternoon
- dark vegetables such as leafy greens and broccoli in the evening
- milk in the evening
Folks who generally ate more of their green veggies and milk in the evening hours were also less likely to die of any cause. While those volunteers who ate a lot of processed meats in the evenings were more likely to die from heart disease.
Biological clocks influence your health
The researchers say that mealtimes should line up with our biological clocks, also known as our circadian rhythms. This natural internal process regulates our sleep and wake cycles, repeating every 24 hours.
And while the team didn’t elaborate on precisely what that means, it’s not nearly as far-fetched as it may sound at first. In fact, if you’re a regular Healthier Talk reader, you may recall that I’ve written to you about the critical role our circadian rhythms can play in our health before. And that includes our risk of heart disease.
Your internal clocks are controlled by your genes. They influence every bodily process you can think of in some way. Everything from sleep to mood to how we digest our meals to obtain the nutrients and energy depends on these rhythms.
And when our internal clocks are disrupted, it can wreak havoc on our health. It can weaken our immune system, raise cancer risks, trigger heart problems, cause us to have digestion issues, and even cause weight gain.
In fact, these adverse effects on our health are one of the biggest reasons Daylight Saving Time has become so controversial. If you’ve been feeling the strain of the recent time change, check out my earlier report, Dodge dangerous Daylight Saving health problems.
Hack your diet to lower heart disease death risks
I’ve explained before that our circadian rhythms control the release of melatonin, the hormone that helps prepare us for sleep. But that’s not the only hormone your biological clocks influence.
Insulin secretion and sensitivity are also regulated by these rhythms. And the glucose control this provides may be the key to the timing trick the researchers spotted in the study.
In addition, your gut bugs have their own circadian clocks. Digesting certain foods in alignment with those patterns could influence their metabolic impact.
Of course, we still have a ton more to learn about our biological clock’s influence on meal timing and heart disease risks. This study is just the first small step in understanding the connection. But we can already use what the researchers found to hack our own diet.
For example, if you tend to limit your carbs to manage your blood sugar but are craving potatoes indulging in some hash browns at breakfast rather than fries at dinner would be a better choice.
An even deeper dive into the data showed moving one-tenth of a serving of potatoes from the afternoon or evening to the morning decreased the risk of death from heart disease by nine percent. And shifting the same amount of starchy vegetables reduced the chances of dying from heart disease by 15 percent.
If you just can’t resist a cold-cut sandwich, plan it for lunch instead of dinner. Plus, if you want to get the most bang for your leafy green buck, pack some extra servings in with your dinner. Moving one-tenth of a serving of dark veggies from afternoon to evening reduced heart disease death risk by eight percent.
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