In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleInsulin Resistance & Blood SugarThe Best Time to Eat Dinner for Insulin ResistanceOther Tips for Healthy Blood Sugar
In This ArticleView All
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In This Article
Insulin Resistance & Blood Sugar
The Best Time to Eat Dinner for Insulin Resistance
Other Tips for Healthy Blood Sugar
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Photo:Getty Images. EatingWell design.
Getty Images. EatingWell design.
High blood sugar may be the telltale feature oftype 2 diabetes. But did you know that insulin resistance is often the underlying cause of this disease? Insulin is a hormone that helps move sugar from your blood into your cells. But sometimes, the body stops being able to use insulin effectively. That’s called insulin resistance, and it often leads to high blood sugar.
“Managing blood sugar is crucial, as insulin resistance can increase the risk of developing prediabetes, type 2 diabetes and other conditions like heart disease and stroke,” saysJulia Perlman, M.S., RD, CDN, a registered dietitian and co-founder of JAM Nutrition. The good news is that certain lifestyle factors can help prevent or improve insulin resistance, one of which is when you eat dinner.
In this article, you’ll learn about the science behind insulin resistance, the best time to eat dinner for better insulin levels, plus dietitian-approved tips for keeping blood sugar in check.
What Happens to Your Body When You Have Insulin Resistance
Insulin Resistance & Blood Sugar Management
Insulin resistance happens when your body stops responding well to the insulin it produces.Jessie Carpenter, M.A., M.S., RD, owner of Nutrition Prescription LLC, likens the condition to a lock and key. “Glucose is in the blood and wants to enter your cells to provide much-needed energy. However, the cells in your body are locked, and the key to opening them is insulin,” she says. “If your pancreas is not producing enough insulin, then not enough cells will be unlocked and glucose will build up in your blood.”
When insulin resistance begins, your pancreas initially tries to produce more insulin to help move sugar into your cells, explainsVandana Sheth, RDN, CDCES, FAND, a plant-based dietitian and diabetes expert. However, after a while, your pancreas can’t keep up anymore.“Over time, this leads to higher blood glucose levels and can lead to an increased risk of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes,” says Sheth.
If you have insulin resistance, it’s generally best to eat dinner at least two to four hours before bed. Sheth says this gives your body time to digest and stabilize blood sugar levels.
“Eating too close to bedtime can disrupt circadian rhythms, impair glucose metabolism and lead to higher fasting blood sugar levels in the morning,” explains Perlman. You may only be aware of your circadian rhythms when they’re thrown off from traveling. Yet they’re constantly at play in the background, affecting hunger, sleepiness and hormones, one of which is insulin.“Our bodies become more insulin resistant later at night, as they are preparing to go into a fasting state all night long when we are asleep,” saysSeema Shah, M.P.H., M.S., RD, owner of Seema Shah Integrative and Functional Nutrition.
For example, one study of more than 3,300 adults found that the later a person ate in the day the more likely they were to be insulin resistant compared to those who ate earlier (they were also more likely to have a higher BMI and triglycerides).And additional research links eating at night to greater odds of developingmetabolic syndrome, a condition that often includes insulin resistance.
Conversely, eating an earlier dinner allows the body’s insulin-producing cells to rest and repair in a fasting state while we sleep, says Shah. This keeps them healthy and functioning optimally. The connection is so strong that one study found that eating dinner at 6 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. led to lower blood sugar levels the following day.
That said, everyone’s body is a little different. Maybe you go to bed at 8 p.m. while someone else turns in at midnight. Consider what a two- to four-hour pre-slumber window is for you and try eating dinner then, rather than focusing on a one-size-fits-all dinnertime.
Other Tips for Managing Blood Sugar
The Bottom Line
But don’t stop there. Incorporating physical activity into your daily routine, eating regular, balanced meals, and ensuring you’re getting enough sleep can improve insulin sensitivity, too!
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SourcesEatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Insulin Resistance & Prediabetes.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes.Poggiogalle E, Jamshed H, Peterson CM.Circadian regulation of glucose, lipid, and energy metabolism in humans.Metabolism. 2018;84:11-27. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2017.11.017.Dashti HS, Gómez-Abellán P, Qian J, et al.Late eating is associated with cardiometabolic risk traits, obesogenic behaviors, and impaired weight loss.Am J Clin Nutr. 2021;113(1):154-161. doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqaa264Alkhulaifi F, Darkoh C.Meal timing, meal frequency and metabolic syndrome.Nutrients. 2022;14(9):1719. doi:10.3390/nu14091719Nakamura K, Tajiri E, Hatamoto Y, Ando T, Shimoda S, Yoshimura E.Eating dinner early improves 24-h blood glucose levels and boosts lipid metabolism after breakfast the next day: A randomized cross-over trial.Nutrients. 2021;13(7):2424. doi:10.3390/nu13072424Engeroff T, Groneberg DA, Wilke J.After Dinner Rest a While, After Supper Walk a Mile? A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis on the Acute Postprandial Glycemic Response to Exercise Before and After Meal Ingestion in Healthy Subjects and Patients with Impaired Glucose Tolerance.Sports Med. 2023;53(4):849-869. doi:10.1007/s40279-022-01808-7Ali M, Reutrakul S, Petersen G, Knutson KL.Associations between Timing and Duration of Eating and Glucose Metabolism: A Nationally Representative Study in the U.S.Nutrients. 2023;15(3):729. doi:10.3390/nu15030729Singh T, Ahmed TH, Mohamed N, et al.Does Insufficient Sleep Increase the Risk of Developing Insulin Resistance: A Systematic Review.Cureus. 2022;14(3):e23501. doi:10.7759/cureus.23501
Sources
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Insulin Resistance & Prediabetes.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes.Poggiogalle E, Jamshed H, Peterson CM.Circadian regulation of glucose, lipid, and energy metabolism in humans.Metabolism. 2018;84:11-27. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2017.11.017.Dashti HS, Gómez-Abellán P, Qian J, et al.Late eating is associated with cardiometabolic risk traits, obesogenic behaviors, and impaired weight loss.Am J Clin Nutr. 2021;113(1):154-161. doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqaa264Alkhulaifi F, Darkoh C.Meal timing, meal frequency and metabolic syndrome.Nutrients. 2022;14(9):1719. doi:10.3390/nu14091719Nakamura K, Tajiri E, Hatamoto Y, Ando T, Shimoda S, Yoshimura E.Eating dinner early improves 24-h blood glucose levels and boosts lipid metabolism after breakfast the next day: A randomized cross-over trial.Nutrients. 2021;13(7):2424. doi:10.3390/nu13072424Engeroff T, Groneberg DA, Wilke J.After Dinner Rest a While, After Supper Walk a Mile? A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis on the Acute Postprandial Glycemic Response to Exercise Before and After Meal Ingestion in Healthy Subjects and Patients with Impaired Glucose Tolerance.Sports Med. 2023;53(4):849-869. doi:10.1007/s40279-022-01808-7Ali M, Reutrakul S, Petersen G, Knutson KL.Associations between Timing and Duration of Eating and Glucose Metabolism: A Nationally Representative Study in the U.S.Nutrients. 2023;15(3):729. doi:10.3390/nu15030729Singh T, Ahmed TH, Mohamed N, et al.Does Insufficient Sleep Increase the Risk of Developing Insulin Resistance: A Systematic Review.Cureus. 2022;14(3):e23501. doi:10.7759/cureus.23501
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Insulin Resistance & Prediabetes.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes.Poggiogalle E, Jamshed H, Peterson CM.Circadian regulation of glucose, lipid, and energy metabolism in humans.Metabolism. 2018;84:11-27. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2017.11.017.Dashti HS, Gómez-Abellán P, Qian J, et al.Late eating is associated with cardiometabolic risk traits, obesogenic behaviors, and impaired weight loss.Am J Clin Nutr. 2021;113(1):154-161. doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqaa264Alkhulaifi F, Darkoh C.Meal timing, meal frequency and metabolic syndrome.Nutrients. 2022;14(9):1719. doi:10.3390/nu14091719Nakamura K, Tajiri E, Hatamoto Y, Ando T, Shimoda S, Yoshimura E.Eating dinner early improves 24-h blood glucose levels and boosts lipid metabolism after breakfast the next day: A randomized cross-over trial.Nutrients. 2021;13(7):2424. doi:10.3390/nu13072424Engeroff T, Groneberg DA, Wilke J.After Dinner Rest a While, After Supper Walk a Mile? A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis on the Acute Postprandial Glycemic Response to Exercise Before and After Meal Ingestion in Healthy Subjects and Patients with Impaired Glucose Tolerance.Sports Med. 2023;53(4):849-869. doi:10.1007/s40279-022-01808-7Ali M, Reutrakul S, Petersen G, Knutson KL.Associations between Timing and Duration of Eating and Glucose Metabolism: A Nationally Representative Study in the U.S.Nutrients. 2023;15(3):729. doi:10.3390/nu15030729Singh T, Ahmed TH, Mohamed N, et al.Does Insufficient Sleep Increase the Risk of Developing Insulin Resistance: A Systematic Review.Cureus. 2022;14(3):e23501. doi:10.7759/cureus.23501
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Insulin Resistance & Prediabetes.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes.
Poggiogalle E, Jamshed H, Peterson CM.Circadian regulation of glucose, lipid, and energy metabolism in humans.Metabolism. 2018;84:11-27. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2017.11.017.
Dashti HS, Gómez-Abellán P, Qian J, et al.Late eating is associated with cardiometabolic risk traits, obesogenic behaviors, and impaired weight loss.Am J Clin Nutr. 2021;113(1):154-161. doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqaa264
Alkhulaifi F, Darkoh C.Meal timing, meal frequency and metabolic syndrome.Nutrients. 2022;14(9):1719. doi:10.3390/nu14091719
Nakamura K, Tajiri E, Hatamoto Y, Ando T, Shimoda S, Yoshimura E.Eating dinner early improves 24-h blood glucose levels and boosts lipid metabolism after breakfast the next day: A randomized cross-over trial.Nutrients. 2021;13(7):2424. doi:10.3390/nu13072424
Engeroff T, Groneberg DA, Wilke J.After Dinner Rest a While, After Supper Walk a Mile? A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis on the Acute Postprandial Glycemic Response to Exercise Before and After Meal Ingestion in Healthy Subjects and Patients with Impaired Glucose Tolerance.Sports Med. 2023;53(4):849-869. doi:10.1007/s40279-022-01808-7
Ali M, Reutrakul S, Petersen G, Knutson KL.Associations between Timing and Duration of Eating and Glucose Metabolism: A Nationally Representative Study in the U.S.Nutrients. 2023;15(3):729. doi:10.3390/nu15030729
Singh T, Ahmed TH, Mohamed N, et al.Does Insufficient Sleep Increase the Risk of Developing Insulin Resistance: A Systematic Review.Cureus. 2022;14(3):e23501. doi:10.7759/cureus.23501
