Discovering mealtimes helps older adults prevent diabetes

The good news is that new research, just presented at the annual conference of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), has found a simple way to improve blood sugar control, according to the medical website News Medical.

Accordingly, without restricting food intake, simply limiting meal times within a certain time frame can significantly improve blood sugar control in older adults at high risk of diabetes.

Eating meals within an 8-hour window a day helps control blood sugar effectively

Researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University (UK) wanted to investigate the impact on blood sugar control of eating meals limited to a certain time frame and not limiting food intake.

They conducted a study on 15 people with an average age of 52, who were sedentary, overweight, and prediabetic. The participants were assigned to two different meal times for three days. One was an 8-hour meal time (early: 8am - 4pm or late: 12pm - 8pm) and the other was a normal meal time - about 14 hours from morning to night.

The authors compared the effects on blood glucose levels of these two mealtimes by continuously monitoring blood glucose and markers of glycemic variability in the participants.

The results found that compared to the usual eating window (more than 14 hours a day), eating within an 8-hour window a day had blood sugar levels within the normal range and also helped reduce signs of blood sugar variability, according to News Medical.

The results also showed that as long as eating times were limited to 8 hours a day, eating early or late had a positive effect on blood sugar control.

Lead author Dr Kelly Bowden Davies, from Manchester Metropolitan University, said: For many people, calorie restriction is difficult to maintain in the long term, but new research suggests that monitoring meal times could be a simple way for older people at risk of type 2 diabetes to improve their blood sugar control.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/phat-hien-khung-gio-an-giup-nguoi-lon-tuoi-ngan-ngua-benh-tieu-duong-185240916162154981.htm