NIGHT OWLS TAKE NOTE - YOUR BREAKFAST CHOICES COULD IMPACT YOUR HEALTH

Cereal, toast, rolls – a hearty breakfast mostly contains one thing: carbohydrates. They provide the body with essential energy, keep us full, and taste good. But they also have drawbacks.

Early in the morning especially, they can be detrimental to certain groups of people. This has been revealed in a new study by Paderborn University.

Scientists have studied the effects of a carb-rich morning meal on certain groups, more specifically, on different chronotypes.

"Early birds" and "night owls" have different biorhythms

People can generally be divided into early birds and night owls depending on their circadian rhythm, or internal clock:

• " Early birds " rise early, eat earlier, and also go to bed earlier.

• " Night owls ", on the other hand, biologically tend to sleep longer and eat later.

These different internal clocks cause the two types to react differently to certain foods. Particularly when individuals eat out of step with their internal clock, which can lead to an unintended spike in glucose levels (blood sugar levels).

Glucose levels affect health

If blood sugar rises quickly and sharply, it falls just as quickly. This means that the body is not supplied with energy in the long term, but quickly requires new food. It leads to cravings .

Furthermore, a high blood sugar level can increase the risk of certain diseases in the long term . These include:

• obesity

• diabetes

• insulin resistance

• dementia and

• other chronic diseases.

It is normal for blood sugar levels to fluctuate during the day. As a rule, blood sugar rises less sharply with carb-rich meals in the morning than in the evening. But not in all people, as the new study shows, and specifically when people "eat at the wrong time."

Many people eat at the wrong time

"Eating at the wrong time" applies to people such as students and workers. They have to leave the house at certain times and maybe have breakfast early in the morning, even though they are still in their biological sleep phase due to their late chronotype. On the other hand, social activities cause people with an early type to eat dinner “too late”.

The team from Paderborn University examined around 300 students, all aged between 18 and 25 years. 45 of them corresponded to the earliest and latest chronotypes.

The students took part in a nutrition study that ran from September to December 2020. They were given meals and snacks that they had to eat at certain times.

"In our study, we wanted to investigate whether the daily differences in the glucose response can also be found in students with an early and late chronotype," explains Bettina Krüger from the Institute of Nutrition, Consumption and Health at Paderborn University. The results were published in the " European Journal of Nutrition ".

Researchers came to the following conclusion:

• " Early birds " showed a stronger glucose response to dinner. They developed an ever declining glucose tolerance over the course of the day, meaning that they were increasingly unable to regulate their blood sugar. This is "normal".

• " Night owls ", however, showed a similarly high glucose response both in the evening and in the morning. This was surprising for the team.

• In addition, the results showed that eating late is detrimental to glucose response, regardless of the respective chronotype.

How night owls should eat

"A very early breakfast appears to be critical for owls if it contains a lot of unfavorable carbohydrates," says study leader Anette Buyken, interpreting the results.

This means they should pay attention to the quality of their carbohydrates not only in the evening, but also in the morning. The key is to resort to carbohydrates that do not cause blood sugar levels to rise too sharply, like wholegrain products.

And they should preferably have breakfast later, for example by bringing their breakfast to university or work.

2024-04-23T10:06:44Z dg43tfdfdgfd