Eating more potatoes or starchy vegetables in the morning and less refined grains and processed meats in the evening are associated with lower mortality due to cardiovascular disease or any cause.

In this study, 4642 patients with diabetes from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2003 and 2014 were examined to determine the impact of time of eating a meal in a day on mortality due to cardiovascular disease. The foods were defined into 18 major food groups. Three food consumption times were delineated: “forenoon (breakfast + snack between breakfast and lunch), afternoon (lunch + snack between lunch and dinner), and evening (dinner + snack after dinner)”.

Of these, the timing of consumption of potato, starchy vegetable, dark vegetable, refined grain and processed meats were found to be associated with mortality risk, both cardiovascular and all-cause.

Diabetic patients in the highest quintile of potato and starchy vegetables in the morning were at a lower risk of cardiovascular-related mortality compared to those in the lowest quantile with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.46 for potatoes and 0.32 for starchy vegetables. Those who ate more whole grains in the afternoon had lower cardiovascular mortality with HR of 0.67.

Patients who ate more dark vegetables (HR 0.55) and milk intake (HR 0.56) in the evening had lower cardiovascular-associated mortality including mortality due to any cause. But those who consumed high amounts of refined grains and processed meat in the evening were at higher risk of mortality due to cardiovascular causes. The hazard ratio for processed meat was 1.74. The risk of CVD mortality declined by 2% when isocaloric servings of potato or starchy vegetables were shifted from afternoon or evening to mornings, dark vegetables from afternoon to evening and whole grains from morning to afternoon. A one percent decrease in mortality was seen when processed meat was isocalorically switched from evening to morning.

Nutritional guidelines for type 2 diabetes patients recommend the amount and types of food to be eaten and those that should be avoided. Based on their findings, the study authors suggest that the “optimal consumption times for foods” keeping in view the biological clock of the body should also be incorporated in the guidelines.

Reference

1. Jiang W, et al. The association of consumption time for food with cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality among diabetic patients. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2022 Mar 15:dgac069. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgac069.