Midnight snacks may up heart risk, diabetes

Late night eating habits disrupt the working of the body's biological clock. It is out-of-sync with the 24-hour cycle, resulting in high blood-fat levels and heart problems, the researchers found.

"The fact that we can ignore our biological clock is important for survival; we can decide to sleep during the day when we are extremely tired or we run away from danger at night," said Ruud Buijs, Professor at the University of Mexico in Mexico City.

"However, doing this frequently -- with shift work, jet lag, or staying up late at night -- will harm our health in the long-term, especially when we eat at times when we should sleep," Buijs added.

The researchers studied rats who were subjected to a challenge. They were fed during the beginning of rest phase (day) and the beginning of active phase (night). 

The results showed that after feeding the rats at the beginning of their rest period, the level of blood fat spiked more drastically than when fed during the beginning of their active phase. 

The research, published in the journal Experimental Physiology, revealed no change in the blood fat levels when the researchers removed the part of the rat's brain that controls the 24-hour cycle.

It was evident that the presence of blood fat in high levels not only affected the metabolism rate but also increased the chance of various heart diseases and diabetes.