The two changes to your evening routine that could boost heart health

 Dimming the lights and avoiding food in the three hours before going to bed can have a positive effect on blood pressure, heart rhythms and blood-sugar control in adults at risk of heart disease, a new study has found.

Scientists wanted to explore whether better matching an overnight fast to a person’s natural cycle of sleeping and waking could improve heart health and overall metabolism.

Previous studies have shown that the body’s internal clock, known as the circadian rhythm, plays a key role in regulating a range of bodily processes.

Poor metabolic health has been shown to increase the risk of chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and heart disease.

In the new study, researchers from Northwestern Medicine in the US investigated how the timing of the last meal of the day could be optimised for the best heart health and metabolism benefits.

The 7.5-week-long study compared 39 overweight people who stopped eating at least three hours before bed with those who maintained their usual eating habits.

Participants were assigned either to a group that underwent overnight fasting for 13 to 16 hours or to a control group that maintained a habitual fasting window of 11 to 13 hours.

Both these groups dimmed their lights three hours before bedtime, a measure that has previously been shown to align the body’s circadian rhythm with a more natural cycle of light and dark.