Early dinner may reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, according to the study

(CNN) – People who eat before 9 pm or at least 2 hours before going to bed have 20% less breast and prostate cancer than those who eat after 10 hours. pm or go to bed shortly after dinner, according to a recent study.

"The mechanisms are unclear," said Dr. Manolis Kogevinas, research professor at the Barcelona World Health Institute in Spain and lead author of a new study on the subject. "We, not only humans, but all living organisms, have evolved over time to function differently day and night."

The study, published Tuesday in International Journal of Cancer followed by 621 people with prostate cancer and 1205 with breast cancer, as well as 872 men and 1,321 cancer-free women, control group, randomly selected from primary health centers all over Spain

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Researchers looked at each person's lifestyle and chronotype, or their preference for day or night, when they were asked when they ate and what their sleep habits were. Participants also completed questionnaires about their eating habits and compliance with recommendations for cancer prevention, such as physical activity and the limitation of alcohol consumption.

About 27% of breast cancer patients followed the recommendations of cancer prevention, compared to 31% of the control group. Similar results were found in the prostate cancer group.

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The researchers interviewed both types of groups twice, asking them for work and weekend habits when they were 40 years old (or their age at that time if they were younger) and what they did a year before their cancer diagnosis or before being interviewed.

Although 7% of the subjects also took snacks after dinner, the study focused on full meals, Kogevinas said.

Previous research has shown that the risk of breast and prostate cancer is associated with night work and disruption of the circadian rhythm. or the sleep-wake cycle of a person, explained Kogevinas. In 2007, the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization classified shift work that changes the circadian rhythm as a health hazard that can cause cancer in humans. The results of the study are entirely consistent with previous research, said Catherine Marinac, a researcher at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who did not participate in the study . Study Marinac's research suggests that eating in harmony with the body's natural clock can help reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence among survivors.

"Studies have shown that people who eat late at night have higher rates of obesity and worse metabolic profiles," said Marinac. "And in particular, we found that people who have longer night fasting, which may involve lower nighttime intake, have better control of blood glucose and a lower risk of recurrence of cancer," he said. he adds.

"The disturbance of the body clock and the reduced ability to process glucose are possible mechanical factors that link night feeding to a cancer risk," he explained.

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Many problems that are not taken into account in the new Study can influence the results, says Dr. Ganesh Palapattu Urology Oncology of the University of Michigan School of Medicine, who was not involved in the research. For example, the study reports the educational status of subjects but not information on their work and their stress.

Both groups followed similar diets and the researchers did extensive analyzes to compare the results and confirm that they were due to meal time instead of other factors, such as class social, said Kogevinas.

Kogevinas warned that while the findings of the study are based on strong biological evidence, the data is still new. It is necessary to study more populations in different contexts, outside of Spain, where people tend to dine later than other countries.

It will be after reproducing these results in other places and in large groups that recommendations can be made. Experts can determine how far the timing of the diet affects the risk of cancer versus being obese or eating unhealthy foods, Kogevinas said.

Still, the new findings are intriguing, he said. you are what you eat, "said Palapattu." You are like you are eating, and you can be well when you eat, "he concluded.