Hormonal
Circadian misalignment, specifically evening chronotype and social jet lag, is associated with increased risk for obesity, type II diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in humans.
If you naturally prefer sleeping later (evening chronotype), you are at higher risk for metabolic issues like diabetes and obesity, even if you get enough sleep. To mitigate this, try to avoid large meals late at night and seek bright light in the morning to help anchor your circadian rhythm, reducing the 'social jet lag' caused by early work/school start times.
Multiple studies have demonstrated greater risk for obesity in evening chronotypes... Merikanto and colleagues (2013b) demonstrated in a cross-sectional study a 2.5-fold increase in type II diabetes prevalence among evening types and a 1.3-fold increase in hypertension prevalence.
Why this rating
Evidence is largely observational/cross-sectional for human health outcomes, though supported by controlled laboratory studies showing hormonal changes.
Source
Circadian misalignment and health
Kelly Glazer Baron et al. · International Review of Psychiatry · 2014
DOI 10.3109/09540261.2014.911149
More from this paper
- Circadian misalignment causes dysregulation of appetite-regulating hormones (specifically decreased leptin) and impaired glucose metabolism, independent of sleep duration.Good
- Shift work, particularly night shift work involving exposure to light at night, is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.Moderate
Related findings · Hormonal
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This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →