Researchers from the United States and Spain have urged people to avoid the temptation to eat heavily later in the day.

The study, conducted by teams from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain and from Columbia University, NY, suggests that eating more than 45 per cent of daily calorie intake after 5 p.m. may be linked to poorer glucose tolerance, particularly in older adults with prediabetes or early type 2 diabetes.

Results of the study were recently published in ‘Nutrition & Diabetes’. Eating more than 45 per cent of daily calorie intake after 5 p.m. can significantly harm health over time, leading to a greater risk of type 2 diabetes development, greater cardiovascular risk, and chronic inflammation, the ‘Medical News Today’.

Poor glucose tolerance is a condition in which blood sugar is high, but not high enough to be type 2 diabetes.

The previously assumed consequence of late eating was primarily weight gain due to a slower metabolism as we wind down and our bodies prepare for and engage in sleep.

The new study suggests that, regardless of a person’s weight or general caloric intake, the time of day when they eat can have significant consequences on glucose metabolism.