Grabbing a meal late at night might feel harmless, but science suggests otherwise. The 24-hour clock running inside the body can be rudely disrupted because of late night eating, and there’s one hormone that can be blamed for it. Most of us know it as the sleep hormone, but studies suggest Melatonin does more than make us sleepy. Melatonin can also interfere with the body’s clock or the circadian rhythms. Over time, this mismatch can raise the risk of diabetes, reduce insulin secretion and may even raise chronic metabolic diseases.
What happens when you eat after dark
When the sun sets, the body’s circadian rhythms shift it into rest mode, and this is the time when Melatonin levels normally rise, and remain high through the night. While melatonin is great to help relax, it may also alter the way our body handles food. Controlled studies coin evidence that meals consumed during high melatonin periods produce poorer glucose tolerance and lower insulin responses, than the same meal when eaten earlier in the day. In other words, the same meal that can give benefits in the morning, can be harmful if consumed at nighttime.
The chemical reaction behind the disruption
- Melatonin binds to receptors on pancreatic-beta cells. These are the very cells that produce insulin.
- Melatonin reduces insulin secretion and makes it harder to clear sugar from blood.
- Late night eating can be more harmful to the individuals who carry MTNR1B gene variants.
- Carriers of these variants may experience larger drops in insulin and worse glucose tolerance when eating late.
Who should be more careful about nighttime eating
While nighttime eating isn’t ideal for anyone, certain groups should be more careful as their bodies can be more sensitive.People with prediabetes or type 2 diabetesIndividuals with these conditions are at higher risk of complications as the body is less able to cope with high melatonin levels while processing food.Individuals trying to manage weightMetabolism slows down at night, so calories consumed late at night are more likely to be stored as fat.People who struggle with sleepEating late can delay melatonin release and digestion, making it harder to achieve deep, restorative sleep.
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Tips for people with late night shifts
- Plan the main meals during daylight hours
- Keep late-night snacks light and balanced
A late night snack once in a while may not wreck one’s health, but repeatedly and habitually eating during the night can create a metabolic mismatch and a hormone that’s there to ease the body may start working against it.
