Muesli, toast, rolls – an extensive breakfast usually contains one thing above all else: carbohydrates. These provide the body with important energy, keep you full and taste good. But they don’t just have advantages. They can be harmful to certain groups of people, especially so early in the morning. This is now shown by a new study from the University of Paderborn.
Scientists have studied the effects of a high-carbohydrate meal in the morning on specific groups, more specifically, on specific chronotypes.
“Owls” and “larks” have different biorhythms
There are, for example, the “lark” and the “owl”. They differ in their circadian rhythm, i.e. their internal clock:
“Lark” get up early, eat earlier and go to bed earlier.
“owls” On the other hand, for biological reasons, we sleep longer and eat later.
These different internal clocks mean that the two types react differently to certain foods. Namely when people eat against their internal clock. This can then lead to an unwanted increase in glucose (blood sugar) levels.
Glucose levels have health implications
If blood sugar rises quickly and rapidly, it also falls just as quickly. This ensures that the body is not supplied with energy in the long term, but rather quickly demands new food. It’s about to happen Cravings .
In addition, one can High blood sugar levels increase the risk of certain diseases in the long term. These include, for example:
Obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, dementia and other chronic diseases.
It’s normal for blood sugar levels to fluctuate throughout the day. As a rule, it increases less sharply in the morning with carbohydrate-rich meals than in the evening. But not for all people, as the new study shows. For example, not when people “eat at the wrong time”.
Many people eat at the wrong time
“Eating at the wrong time” applies to students, for example, but also to employees. They have to leave the house at certain times, such as having breakfast early in the morning, even though they are actually still in the biological sleep phase due to their late chronotype. On the other hand, social activities cause people with a previous guy to eat their dinner “late”.
The team from Paderborn University examined around 300 male and female students, all between the ages of 18 and 25. 45 of these corresponded to the earliest and latest chronotypes. They took part in a nutritional study that lasted from September to December 2020. They were given meals and snacks that they had to eat at certain times.
“In our study, we wanted to investigate whether the daily differences in the glucose response can also be found in students with an early and late chronotype,” explains Bettina Krüger from the Institute for Nutrition, Consumption and Health at the University of Paderborn. They published the results in the specialist journal “European Journal of Nutrition”.
They came to the following conclusion:
Die “Lark” showed a higher glucose response to dinner. They developed increasingly decreasing glucose tolerance over the course of the day. So we were able to regulate our blood sugar more and more poorly. That’s “normal”. The “owls” However, they showed a similarly high glucose response in the evening as in the morning. This was a surprise for the team. The results also showed that eating late at night is detrimental to the glucose response – regardless of the chronotype.
How “owls” should eat
“A very early breakfast seems to be critical for owls if it contains a lot of unfavorable carbohydrates,” says study leader Anette Buyken, classifying the results. You should therefore pay attention to the quality of the carbohydrates not only in the evening but also in the morning Use carbohydrates that do not cause blood sugar levels to rise too much, such as whole grain products.
And they should eat breakfast later, for example by taking their breakfast with them to university or to work.
Frequently asked questions on this topic
What are carbohydrates and what role do they play in our diet?
Carbohydrates are a macronutrient consisting of sugar molecules that the body converts into glucose. This is an efficient source of energy, especially for the brain. They are not essential because…
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Is it true that carbohydrates make you fat?
Long-term weight gain results from excessive calorie intake, not specifically carbohydrates. However, high amounts of sugar and calories in sweets, fast food and ready meals can…
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Are carbohydrates really bad for our health?
Carbohydrates are generally not bad. They are an important source of energy. In the case of certain metabolic disorders, a reduced carbohydrate intake can relieve symptoms. But the type and quantity…
Yasmin Flohr
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What types of carbohydrates are there and which should you prefer?
There are complex and simple carbohydrates. Complexes (e.g. in whole grain products, legumes, fruit) are to be preferred because they contain fiber, vitamins and minerals and …
Yasmin Flohr
Nutritionist and fitness trainer