CHICAGO — Late-night meals may take a toll on heart health, a new study suggests. The research, presented here today (Nov. 10) at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions annual meeting, found that eating more later in the evening was associated with an increased risk of heart disease. People in the U.S. now have a “delayed lifestyle” — they go to sleep later at night and get fewer hours of sleep, said lead study author Nour Makarem, a postdoctoral fellow in cardiology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. And with that delayed lifestyle, you also see higher rates of late-night eating, she said. [9 New Ways to Keep Your Heart Healthy] Makarem and her colleagues thought that this meal timing may play a role in the rise in rates of obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes seen in recent years. So, they set out to see if that’s the case. In the study, the researchers used a database called the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos to look at information on more than 12,700 Hispanic and Latino adults ages 18 to 76. (Though the study only looked at one specific population in the U.S., the Hispanic and Latino population, “we do expect to see similar associations in other populations in the U.S.,” Makarem told Live Science. Indeed, several studies conducted abroad have shown that meal timing may be associated with developing risk factors for heart disease, she added.) In the study, the team looked at data from… [Read full story]
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