It’s not just what we eat, but how we eat

We know our health depends on what we eat, and scientists say it also depends on how we eat. People who eat at irregular times are more likely to develop insulin resistance, part of the metabolic syndrome, according to a study at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors (belly fat, high blood pressure, abnormal blood fats and poor glucose tolerance) that raise the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Many lifestyle factors affect it, above all diet.

The scientists showed that meal patterns, whatever the food, affect the chances of developing metabolic syndrome. The study, based on a survey and medical checks of more than 4,000 sixty-year-old men and women, found that irregular meals were linked with a higher risk: people who rarely ate regular breakfast, lunch and dinner had larger waists and more blood fat problems, and were more likely to show signs of insulin resistance than those who ate more regularly.

Advice usually focuses on what we should eat, but this study shows the importance of how we eat: we should care about regular mealtimes as much as about the quality of our food.