Consuming an early supper or leaving a gap of at least two hours before going to sleep have been associated with a lower risk of prostate or breast cancer, specifically those who consume evening meals before 9PM or wait a minimum of two hours before going to sleep after eating have a 20% lower risk of those cancers, in this first of its kind study to analyze associations between cancer risk and timing of meals and sleep.
Previously links between cancer and food studies have been focused on dietary patterns such as effects of consuming certain foods with association between food intake and obesity. Very little attention has actually been placed on other factors surrounding eating such as timing of food intake and activities people engage in before and after meals. Experimental studies have recently shown the importance of meal timing and have demonstrated the effects of eating late at night.
This study had the goal to assess whether meal timing could be associated with risk of prostate and breast cancer, which are among two of the most common cancers worldwide and also among the most strongly associated with circadian disruption, night shift work, and alteration of biological rhythms. Each participant’s lifestyle and chronotype were evaluated and assessed in this study.
Data analyzed in this study was collected from 1205 cases of breast cancer and 621 cases of prostate cancer, along with 1321 female and 872 male controls which were selected at random from primary health centers. All participants were interviewed regarding their sleep habits, meal timing, and chronotype along with completing questionnaires regarding eating habits and adherence to cancer prevention recommendations.
Researchers concluded that adherence to diurnal eating patterns are associated with lower risk of cancer, and findings highlight importance of assessing circadian rhythms in studies investigating diet and cancer associations. Should findings be confirmed it could have implications for cancer prevention recommendations which currently do not take meal timing into consideration; impacts could be of key importance to populations that have late suppers.
Further research in humans is required to understand the mechanisms behind these findings, everything would seem to indicate timing of sleep affects capacity to metabolize food. Experimental animal evidence has shown timing of food intake has implications for health and food metabolism adds Dora Romaguera, researcher for ISGlobal and one of the study authors.
