Diet synced with biological clock may replace problematic diabetes treatment

While the kind of food one eats and even the order in which it is consumed can affect the health of an individual. A new study finds that a starch-rich breakfast consumed early in the morning coupled with a small dinner could replace insulin injections and other diabetes medications for many diabetics.
Type 2 diabetics inject themselves with insulin, a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into liver, muscle and fat cells, up to four times a day. But insulin injections are linked to weight gain and the loss of control of blood sugar levels. This triggers a vicious cycle of higher insulin doses, continuous weight gain, a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease and other complications.
According to the new research, our metabolism and biological clock are optimized for eating in the morning and for fasting during the evening and night, when we are supposed to be asleep. Prof. Daniela Jakubowicz of TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Wolfson Medical Center’s Diabetes Unit said, “But the usual diet recommended for type 2 diabetes consists of several small meals evenly distributed throughout the day, for example, three meals and three snacks daily, including a snack before going to sleep to prevent a drop in sugar levels during the night.”
The research was published in the journal Diabetes Care. According to. Prof. Jakubowicz “The traditional diabetic diet specifies six small meals spread throughout the day. But our research proposes shifting the starch-rich calories to the early hours of the day. (PTI)