A habit of going to bed late combined with nighttime eating disrupts the intestinal barrier and worsens inflammation, raising the likelihood of diabetes and heart disease in people with obesity, according to a study published in the journal iScience, infohub.kz reports.
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston). They found a direct link between late bedtimes, nighttime eating, gut condition and metabolic disorders. The project was led by Faraz Bishehsari, a professor and director of the gastroenterology research center at McGovern Medical School.
The researchers analyzed the daily behavioral habits of adult patients with obesity. Participants were divided by chronotype into "night owls" and "early birds," and their meal times were assessed. People with a late chronotype were found to have significantly more factors of metabolic syndrome — a cluster of symptoms that sharply increases the threat of stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The highest metabolic risk was recorded among those who combined late bedtimes with regular nighttime snacking.
To assess the body's response, the authors created a special metabolic-inflammatory scale. The analysis showed that patients in the risk group had impaired epithelial integrity and developed so-called leaky gut syndrome. In this condition, substances from the intestinal lumen enter the general bloodstream, triggering chronic systemic inflammation.
Microbiome therapy helped strengthen the protective barrier by increasing the numbers of beneficial bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids. According to Bishehsari, adjusting meal times and biological rhythms opens new avenues for preventing severe pathologies.