Fasting at Night May Aid Glucose Metabolism in Night-Shift Workers

THURSDAY, Nov. 14, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Fasting at night prevents impairments in glucose tolerance among simulated night-shift work, according to a study published online Oct. 18 in Diabetologia.

Stephanie Centofanti, Ph.D., from University of South Australia in Adelaide, and colleagues assigned healthy, non-shift-working adults without obesity to fasting-at-night (20 individuals), snack-at-night (17 individuals), or meal-at-night (18 individuals) conditions.

The researchers found that night-shift work significantly impaired insulin sensitivity, as measured by insulin area under the curve (AUC) and the insulin sensitivity index across all conditions. Measures of insulinogenic index were significantly heightened in the fasting-at-night condition only, resulting in a day-by-condition interaction in glucose AUC, with glucose tolerance impaired in the meal-at-night and snack-at-night conditions compared with the fasting-at-night condition. There was also a day-by-condition interaction for nonesterified fatty acid AUC, which was higher in the meal-at-night and snack-at-night conditions compared with the fasting-at-night condition.

"The timing of food intake has a critical effect on glucose metabolism during simulated night-shift work, which was readily amendable to a meal retiming intervention," the authors write. "Meal timing advice should be considered for existing dietary guidelines, industry recommendations, and workplace policy to improve health and reduce the burden of metabolic disease on night-shift workers."

Abstract/Full Text