The University of California has shown for the first time that nocturnal eating raises the risk of illness
A night time snack might seem like a harmless treat, but a new study suggests it could raise the risk of breast cancer and diabetes.

Researchers have discovered that fasting at night is crucial for good health and people who snack in the early hours are putting themselves at risk of disease.

It is the first study to show that nocturnal eating should be avoided to allow the body’s metabolism to work in alignment with natural sleep-wake cycles.
Eating regular meals at set times and then waiting longer between dinner and breakfast appears to regulate blood sugar and lower risk of illness.
For every three hours of extra fasting at night women were 20 per cent less likely to have hyperglycemia - or high blood sugar - a known risk factor for breast cancer and diabetes.

"Increasing the duration of overnight fasting could be a novel strategy to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer,” said lead author Catherine Marinac, a doctoral student at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
"This is a simple dietary change that we believe most women can understand and adopt. It may have a big impact on public health without requiring complicated counting of calories or nutrients."

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