Night owls are at higher risk of diabetes, heart disease: Study

Are you a night owl or prefer sleeping late at night and unable to get up early in the morning, if yes then you are at a higher risk of suffering from Type-2 diabetes and heart disease than the early birds.

A study shows that people with evening routine were 2.5 times more likely to have Type-2 diabetes as compared to those who are morning larks. Additionally, these people have more unpredictable eating patterns and consume more unhealthy food including alcohol, sugars and fast food than the early risers.

A researcher from Nestle Health Science, Leonidas G. Karagounis said that people with evening preference had a lesser intake of vegetables and fruits and higher intake of energy drinks, caffeinated beverages and alcohols as well as higher energy intake from fat.

Suzana Almoosawi, research candidate from Northumbria University in the UK said, "In youngsters, we also find that evening chronotype is linked to more erratic consumption, behavior and poor diet. This can have significant implications to health in later life as most dietary habits are established in adolescence”.

In the paper published in the journal Advances in Nutrition, the researchers said, eating late in the day was also linked to an increased risk of Type-2 diabetes as the circadian rhythm controls the way glucose is metabolized in the human body. Moreover, the glucose levels must decline naturally all through the day and reach their lowest point at night.

But, as the night owls usually eat just before going to bed, their glucose levels gets increased when they are about to sleep and this could badly affect the metabolism as their bodies do not follow common biological process.

The researchers also have proof that night owls would build up 'sleep debt' during the working week and would sleep for long at the weekends to balance this, while early risers will have small differences in their sleeping patterns across the week.