'Three Meals a Day' Reduced Risk of Developing Insulin Resistance in Middle-Aged by 12%
Dec 11, 2024
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A research team led by Kwon Yong-jin and Ryu Ha-eun, a family medicine professor at Yonsei University's Yongin Severance Hospital, and Dr. Heo Seok-jae, a life system information class at Yonsei University, analyzed the effect of the number of meals per day on insulin resistance in the middle-aged through a recent study.
Insulin resistance is a condition in which body tissues such as liver, muscle, and adipose tissue fail to respond appropriately to insulin, a major pathological feature of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and is also closely related to chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease.
Recently, weight loss strategies that reduce the number of meals, such as intermittent fasting and time-limited meals, have attracted attention. However, it is not yet clear whether the weight loss resulting from these strategies is simply due to a decrease in the number of meals, a limitation on calories, or the influence of other factors. Rather, according to previous studies, the higher the number of meals per day, the greater the likelihood of gaining benefits such as weight control and improved metabolic rates.
In response, the research team tried to analyze the effect of the number of meals per day on insulin resistance using data from the Korean Genome Epidemiology Survey Project (KoGES) between 2001 and 2020, and to analyze differences according to the characteristics of subgroups such as gender, body mass index (BMI), and diabetes.
The study followed 4570 adults aged 40 to 69 for an average of 10.6 years. The study subjects compared insulin resistance by dividing them into two groups: three or more meals per day and less than three times per day. The 'HOMA-IR' index was utilized for the assessment of insulin resistance.
The research team evaluated the association between the number of meals and the risk of developing insulin resistance through Cox proportional risk model analysis.
As a result, the group who ate more than three times a day had about 12% lower risk of developing insulin resistance than the group who ate less than three times a day, and body weight, fasting blood sugar, and triglyceride levels remained positive. This association remained significant in men, non-obese, and diabetic groups, and no association in women, obese groups, and diabetic patients.
The study indicates that regular three meals a day can be effective in preventing and managing insulin resistance and metabolic diseases in middle-aged people, and emphasizes the importance of establishing customized health care strategies considering individual characteristics such as gender, BMI, and diabetes.
Professor Kwon Yong-jin said, "This study is meaningful in that it is the first large-scale cohort study to track the association between the number of meals per day and insulin resistance for a long time. Based on the results of the study, we plan to pursue more advanced research such as future intervention studies and the development of customized dietary improvement programs for high-risk groups for metabolic diseases."
The results of the study were recently published in the international journal `Diabetes and Metabolism Journal" .
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
