The research, published in Frontiers in Nutrition, explored how personalized meal timing and macronutrient distribution may influence cardiometabolic health in night shift workers.
The three-month study investigated whether shifting energy intake earlier in the day and tailoring carbohydrate, fat and protein intake to individual metabolic responses could improve post-meal cholesterol and inflammatory responses.
“Findings suggest that modifying meal timing and macronutrient distribution may support cardiometabolic health in real-world night work settings,” the researchers in the Netherlands wrote.
Chrono-nutrition may help reduce metabolic risks
Night shift work is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity. It can disrupt circadian rhythms, sleep patterns, and normal eating–fasting cycles, often leading workers to consume food at biologically inappropriate times.
Nocturnal eating has also been suggested to impair glucose regulation, disrupt lipid metabolism, and contribute to low-grade systemic inflammation, potentially increasing long-term cardiometabolic risk.
Chrono-nutrition, the study of how the timing of food intake interacts with the body’s circadian rhythm to influence metabolism, health and overall well-being, may offer a potential strategy to mitigate these effects, the researchers noted.
While evidence from real-world workplace settings remains limited, interest in shift workers’ sleep and metabolic health is growing, with brands such as Noctiva launching targeted supplements designed to support relaxation and sleep among night shift workers.
Study details
The researchers conducted a study with 57 male night shift workers, who selected a nutrition intervention, sleep intervention or control group.
The personalized nutrition intervention advised 22 participants to redistribute daily calories and macronutrients across four meals, prioritizing earlier energy intake and aligning carbohydrate and fat intake with the body’s circadian rhythms. Recommendations were tailored to individual energy needs, dietary preferences and metabolic responses.
Researchers assessed dietary intake using smartphone food diaries, measured post-meal glucose, insulin, cholesterol, triglycerides and inflammatory markers through blood tests, and monitored glucose levels continuously for 14 days at three time points. They used these measurements to evaluate changes in dietary behavior, diet quality and cardiometabolic health.
Results found that personalized meal timing and macronutrient distribution may influence post-meal lipid and inflammatory responses in night shift workers, without requiring changes to total calorie intake or overall diet quality.
The personalized nutrition intervention helped 22 night shift workers move their energy intake earlier, with total intake shifting 150 minutes earlier at the start and remaining 88 minutes earlier at the end of the intervention. The timing of carbohydrate, protein and fat intake also shifted earlier. However, total calorie intake and overall diet quality remained unchanged.
Continuous glucose monitoring showed modest changes in glucose patterns, but overall glucose control did not consistently improve. Following the intervention, researchers observed changes in post-meal cholesterol responses, including total, LDL and HDL cholesterol, alongside lower responses in several inflammatory markers, including TNF-α, IL-8, IL-10, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. However, not all biomarkers changed significantly, and some findings reflected differences in response patterns rather than clear reductions at individual time points.
“These findings indicate that modifying meal timing and macronutrient distribution may support cardiometabolic health in shift workers in a real-world occupational setting,” the researchers concluded.
“Future studies could assess whether similar interventions yield larger effects on glucose metabolism in populations with impaired metabolic health, such as individuals with type 2 diabetes, or when combined with energy restriction.”
Source:Frontiers in Nutrition; doi: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2026.1912094/full#sec24; “A personalized nutrition intervention advances meal timing and is associated with reduced postprandial lipid and inflammatory responses in night shift workers.” Authors: Van der Rhee, M. et al.
