WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - New research presented at Digestive Disease Week 2026 suggests that eating late at night may intensify the effects of stress on digestive health, with potential consequences for the gut microbiome.
'It's not just what you eat, but when you eat it,' said lead author Harika Dadigiri, resident physician at New York Medical College at Saint Mary's and Saint Clare's Hospital. 'And when we're already under stress, that timing may deliver a 'double hit' to gut health.'
Researchers examined data from more than 11,000 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a long-running assessment of Americans' diet and lifestyle conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their analysis explored links between chronic stress, late-night eating, and bowel dysfunction.
They found that individuals with a high allostatic load score, a measure of cumulative physiological stress based on factors such as body mass index, cholesterol, and blood pressure, who consumed more than 25 percent of their daily calories after 9 p.m. were 1.7 times more likely to experience constipation and diarrhea than those with lower stress levels who did not eat late at night.
'I'm not the ice cream police,' Dadigiri said. 'Everyone should eat their ice cream-maybe preferably earlier in the day. Small, consistent habits, like maintaining a structured meal routine, may help promote more regular eating patterns and support digestive function over time.'
A similar pattern emerged in data from over 4,000 participants in the American Gut Project. People reporting both high stress and late-night eating were 2.5 times more likely to experience bowel problems. These individuals also showed significantly lower gut microbiome diversity, suggesting that meal timing may amplify the impact of stress on gut health.
Notably, since the study is observational, it identifies associations rather than cause and effect. Further research is needed to clarify how stress, eating patterns, and gut health interact. However, the findings add to growing interest in chrononutrition, which examines how the body's internal clock influences the way it processes food.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
