Late night eating habit linked to up to 30% higher risk of liver disease

Late night eating habit linked to up to 30% higher risk of liver disease Eating after dinner or bedtime has been linked to a higher risk of liver disease, as researchers reveal that the time we tuck into our food could have a direct impact on your health Reaching for a late-night snack could be doing more than disrupting your sleep – with new research linking eating after dinner or bedtime to a higher risk of liver disease. People who ate late at night were found to be up to 30% more likely to develop liver disease than those who did not, according to the research involving around 200,000 people. These included metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), where too much fat builds up in the liver, and cirrhosis, which causes the organ to become scarred and damaged. Researchers believe the link could be connected to the body’s internal clock, which helps regulate how our bodies work across the day and night. Lead author Dr Robert Wilechansky, from Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), said: “We know the liver is very much in tune with the body’s circadian rhythms. So we’re interested in changing the timing of eating in a way that could make a difference in health without changing the composition of what people eat.” The research, published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, looked at eating habits and liver disease among people in the US. But Dr Wilechansky stressed that developing fatty liver disease does not mean someone will go on to develop its most serious forms. He said: “It’s important to remember, of the people who developed fatty liver disease, only a small fraction develop serious forms of the condition like liver cirrhosis. Even so, the big take-away here is that confining your calorie intake to several hours before bedtime might be beneficial.” Dr Andrew McHill, a sleep and circadian physiologist at OHSU, said researchers were increasingly finding that when people eat, sleep and exercise could be important to their health. He said: “We are seeing over and over again that the timing of behaviours, whether it’s sleep, eating or exercise, really matters. For example, we have shown that eating during the night, when the internal biological clock is promoting sleep, reduces the ability of your body to metabolise foods as efficiently and can eventually lead to obesity, diabetes and now poor liver health.” Liver disease can take several forms and some people experience no symptoms. Signs of cirrhosis can include feeling tired or weak, losing your appetite, itchy skin, feeling or being sick, jaundice and a loss of sex drive. The latest findings follow separate research from the University of Oxford which suggested the body’s ability to process sugar and fat worsens overnight. Scientists studying MASLD found the processes that can cause fat to build up in the liver became more pronounced at night. The liver produced more fat, while the body also became less responsive to insulin – the hormone which helps control blood sugar. Those problems continued even after participants lost weight and reduced the amount of fat in their liver, leading researchers to suggest night-time changes in the body’s metabolism could play an important role in the disease. MASLD, previously known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, is thought to affect around 40% of adults worldwide. While many people will not develop severe disease, more advanced forms can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer.