Late-Night Eating May Harm Liver, Study Suggests
A long-term study suggests that late-night eating is associated with a 20% to 30% increased risk of liver diseases, including cirrhosis. Researchers believe this is linked to the disruption of the body's natural circadian rhythms.
Why it matters
This research provides actionable lifestyle advice for liver health and highlights the importance of meal timing in metabolic disease prevention.
New research led by Oregon Health & Science University suggests you should think twice about indulging in a late-night snack if you'd like to preserve liver health.
The study, published today in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, documents an increase in the correlation between people who reported late-night eating - defined as eating after dinner or after bedtime - and a heightened risk of two types of liver disease, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and cirrhosis.
Previous research has associated late-night snacking with heart disease and obesity, but in the new study researchers set out to find a signal of liver disease in late-night eating.
"A few studies have hinted at this idea but this is among the first long-term analyses to explicitly draw the connection to fatty liver disease," said lead author Robert Wilechansky, M.D., a hepatologist at OHSU who specializes in liver transplantation.
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