🤔 Would you consider yourself a night owl or an early bird?

Turns out it might affect your metabolism.

A new study shows that people with metabolic syndrome who tend to stay up late and sleep late (any night owls out there?) have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Yikes.

The difference relates to a topic I’ve recently shared about—

⚠️ Insulin Resistance ⚠️

Here’s how the study went:

👫 51 participants with metabolic syndrome were monitored for a week for their activity patterns over the day.

🥗 They all ate the same diet, controlled for nutrition and calories.

🐥 Results showed that early birds burned more fat for energy (both while exercising and at rest) and had better insulin sensitivity.

🦉 Night owls’ bodies favored carbohydrates as a fuel source and were more insulin resistant.

This study involved people who already had metabolic syndrome, so we don’t know if it also applies to healthy people.

Still. Knowing this link between staying up late and insulin resistance is one thing. But what can we do about it?

Do you believe that it’s possible for night owls to become early birds? 🤷‍♀️

Reference

Malin, S. K., Remchak, M. E., Smith, A. J., Ragland, T. J., Heiston, E. M., & Cheema, U. (2022). Early chronotype with metabolic syndrome favours resting and exercise fat oxidation in relation to insulin-stimulated non-oxidative glucose disposal. Exp Physiol. [link]