Eating at the right time could prevent diabetes and other chronic diseases

Eating isn't just a matter of what and how much, but also when. This is according to Diana Díaz Rizzolo , an expert in obesity and diabetes, who warns that meal timing significantly influences glycemic control and, therefore, the prevention of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome.

During the 36th National Congress of the Spanish Diabetes Society Foundation (FSED), the UOC and Columbia University researcher presented evidence linking the time of day when calories are ingested with the body's response to glucose. "Glucose tolerance is better in the morning. A late dinner or one rich in carbohydrates can raise nighttime blood glucose and fasting glucose the following day," she noted.

This approach is based on chrononutrition , a discipline that studies how food interacts with our circadian rhythms.

According to Díaz Rizzolo, eating late can throw off your metabolism and increase your risk of disease. Therefore, he suggests adapting nutritional recommendations to each person's chronotype (their natural predisposition to be more active at certain times of the day), work schedules, and individual metabolic conditions.

" In consultation, applying chrononutrition can make a real difference in the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes ," he says. He even proposed considering mealtime as another clinical variable.

Díaz Rizzolo recommends five essential habits to improve glucose control: Eat most of your calories in the morning; avoid heavy, late-night meals; maintain regular schedules aligned with sunlight; know your chronotype; focus on small, sustained changes without obsessing; and return to the traditional Atlantic and Mediterranean diets.

In this regard, María del Mar Calvo Malvar, from the University Clinical Hospital of Santiago de Compostela , emphasizes the importance of returning to classic dietary patterns such as the Atlantic or Mediterranean diet, due to their effectiveness in cardiovascular health and ease of application.

Both diets, based on fresh, local, and minimally processed foods, are not only healthy but also sustainable. " Recovering our food traditions can be one of the best nutritional strategies today ," Calvo points out.

The Atlantic diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fish, and olive oil, has been shown to reduce the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, due to its low ecological impact, it aligns with the " Planetary Health Diet ," a globally proposed model to protect the health of the planet and its people.

Both experts agree that moving toward sustainable nutrition adapted to the human biological clock is not only possible, but necessary. "It's time to eat consciously, not just about what we put on our plates, but also when we do it," concludes Díaz Rizzolo.