How Daytime Eating Can Reduce Health Risks for Night Shift Workers

A recent study from Mass General Brigham highlights a surprising finding: when it comes to heart health, what matters most might not just be when you sleep, but when you eat. Researchers discovered that sticking to a daytime eating schedule could help offset some serious heart risks associated with night work.

For years, studies have shown that working at night can harm your health, particularly your heart. In this study, led by Dr. Frank A.J.L. Scheer, researchers wanted to see if changing food timing could help combat these risks. Dr. Scheer is a professor of medicine and the director of the Medical Chronobiology Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He mentioned, "Our prior research indicated that misaligning our behaviors with our internal clocks elevates cardiovascular risks. We aimed to find a way to lower that risk, and our new findings suggest food timing might be a key factor."

Previous animal studies suggested that syncing meal times with our body’s natural clock could lessen health issues related to nighttime wakefulness. This pushed the researchers to test this idea with humans.

The study involved 20 healthy young adults in a two-week controlled environment at Brigham and Women’s Center for Clinical Investigation. These participants had no exposure to natural light or timekeeping devices, which allowed researchers to monitor how shifting their eating schedule impacted their heart health.

During the study, participants were put through a "constant routine protocol." This setup helped isolate the effects of their internal clocks from their environment. They stayed awake for 32 hours in dim lighting, eating small snacks hourly. After this, they either followed a nighttime eating schedule or ate only during the daytime. Both groups had the same napping schedule, ensuring their differences stemmed solely from when they ate.

The findings were striking. Those who ate at night saw an increase in cardiovascular risk factors, such as blood pressure and markers that can lead to blood clots. In contrast, those who ate only during the day showed no such increases, even though their overall food intake remained the same.

Despite the promising results, the study had limitations. The small sample size, although standard for such controlled studies, may not perfectly represent the broader population. Also, the short duration means it’s unclear how daytime eating impacts long-term health, particularly for shift workers.

Dr. Sarah Chellappa, the study’s lead author and an associate professor at the University of Southampton, emphasized the study’s rigorous control measures. She stated, "We managed every factor that could influence our results, confirming that it’s the timing of food that affects cardiovascular risk factors."

While more research is needed to explore the long-term effects of daytime eating, the findings are encouraging. The researchers propose that adjusting meal times could benefit those working night shifts, people with insomnia, and frequent travelers across time zones.

This study adds to a growing body of research on the importance of circadian rhythm—our body’s natural 24-hour cycle—in shaping our health. It reflects a trend in health science emphasizing the timing of daily activities, suggesting that our behaviors, from eating to sleep, significantly influence our overall health.

For those interested, more information can be found in the journal Nature Communications. You can read the full study for a deeper understanding of how timing our meals could affect heart health.

Source:

• Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• Chellappa, S. L., et al. (2025). Daytime eating during simulated night work mitigates changes in cardiovascular risk factors: secondary analyses of a randomized controlled trial. Nature Communications

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