Nutrition experts usually recommend that we have an early dinner to go to bed with our digestion done. This is that we have dinner before 20-21:00 or two hours before getting ready to sleep. The truth is that it has been proven that people who follow this schedule suffer 20% less from breast and prostate cancer compared to those who eat after 22:00 p.m. or fall asleep immediately after dinner.
We will tell you how this conclusion was reached by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.
Eating habits can reduce the risk of cancer
Doctor Manolis Kogevinas is one of the authors of the research at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and commented that “all living organisms have evolved over time to function differently both during the day and at night«. That is why our habits in life can mark our health.
Research that ensures have early dinner may reduce the risk of cancer, was published in the International Journal of Cancer. It counted on the participación 621 people with prostate cancer and 1.205 with breast cancer, in addition to 872 men and 1.321 women no cancer.
The study focused on lifestyle and chronotype from each person. Did they prefer day or night? What were their eating and sleeping hours? The volunteers filled out questionnaires on all of these questions, as well as talking about their level of physical activity and alcohol consumption.
27% of patients with breast cancer followed the cancer prevention recommendations, compared to 31% of those who did not. As for men with prostate cancer, the results were similar.
In addition, it was also taken into account habits that they had one year before diagnosis or before being interviewed for the study. 7% of the volunteers claimed to have a snack after dinner, but the research only focused on the main meals.
Disrupting the circadian rhythm negatively affects
Manolis Kogevinas explains that the risk of prostate and breast cancer has been shown to be linked to work night shifts and alter the circadian rhythm. In fact, research from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute advises eating in tune with your body's natural clock to lower your chances of recurring breast cancer.
Marinac, a Dana-Farber researcher, commented that «studies have found that people who eat late at night have higher rates of obesity and worse metabolic profiles. And in particular, we've found that people who have a longer duration of overnight fasting, which may imply less nighttime intake, have better blood sugar control and a lower risk of cancer recurrence«.
But back to the main study of this article, both groups of volunteers were put on similar diets and the scientists did extensive analysis to confirm that they were due to meal timing rather than other factors.