The latest research: This type of food is more suitable for eating at night, but many people are eating it wrong?

Everyone wants to eat healthily. Therefore, many people not only pay attention to the types of food, but also pay attention to the time of eating, such as the widely circulated "an apple in the morning is gold, an apple at noon is silver".

Recently, a large-scale prospective cohort study examined more than 30,000 adults who ate foods high in unsaturated fatty acids at different times.

The results showed that people who ate foods rich in unsaturated fatty acids (vegetable oils, nuts, deep-sea fish, etc.) in the morning did not perform as well as those who ate at night.

This is different from our previous common understanding. For a long time, "eat well in the morning, eat full at noon, and eat less at night" has been a highly respected concept of three meals, but this research result seems to contradict it.

Research screenshots

Today we are going to talk about unsaturated fatty acids and see which ones have high content and are they really more suitable for eating at night?

Foods high in unsaturated fatty acids

Better for evening consumption?

First, there are several findings from this study. One of them is:

People who consumed more unsaturated fatty acids at night had a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality (12%-19%), and the mortality rate from cardiovascular disease also showed a downward trend;

People who consume more unsaturated fatty acids at breakfast have a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality (about 30%).

However, don’t take this conclusion too seriously.

On the one hand, the researchers clearly pointed out in the article that "regardless of whether in the morning or evening, in general, daily intake of more unsaturated fatty acids is beneficial for reducing the risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and death."

On the other hand, the researchers also pointed out that people who consumed more unsaturated fatty acids at breakfast in the survey tended to have lower education, income and dietary supplement intake levels. This means that the reason why their all-cause mortality rate was higher than that of people who ate more unsaturated fatty acids at night may also be affected by their lack of healthy living concepts and actions, unscientific lifestyles and other factors.

Screenshot from the document

Secondly, in terms of Chinese eating habits, traditional breakfasts are often relatively light, with carbohydrate-rich buns, pancakes, steamed bread, noodles (rice noodles), etc., accompanied by side dishes, eggs, etc.; young people pursue convenience in breakfast, and most choose bread, eggs, milk, and a small amount of fresh fruit. Generally speaking, the intake of unsaturated fatty acids in these two types of breakfasts is not too high.

Therefore, most people can rest assured. After all, with our eating habits, it is not easy to consume a large amount of unsaturated fatty acids for breakfast.

Many people don’t eat enough unsaturated fatty acids

Then why are unsaturated fatty acids so popular that even when to eat them is worth studying and discussing?

Unsaturated fatty acids are essential nutrients for human growth and development. DHA is an important component of the phospholipids of the retinal and other nerve cell membranes, and plays an important role in the development of visual nerve cells and the maintenance of visual function. At the same time, DHA is also an indispensable nutrient for the development of brain nerve cells.

Quite a number of studies have shown that both polyunsaturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids can regulate blood lipid metabolism, reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels, reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, and inhibit platelet aggregation, reduce blood viscosity, and prevent thrombosis. They play an important role in preventing hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In addition, some studies in recent years have found that unsaturated fatty acids also have a good effect in regulating immune cell function and reducing inflammatory responses.

The Mediterranean diet, which has been rated as the "world's healthiest diet" for many times, is characterized by being rich in unsaturated fatty acids. The Mediterranean diet contains a considerable amount of deep-sea fish, shellfish and other seafood, as well as various nuts, and is also very fond of olive oil. Olive oil can not only be used to mix salads, stir-fry and fry (refined olive oil is usually used for high-temperature cooking), but can also be used for baking and pickling, and can even be eaten directly, dipped in bread or mixed with yogurt.

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However, according to the "Survey and Analysis of Chinese Residents' Food Fatty Acid Intake over 20 Years" and other research results on dietary lipid patterns in different regions of my country, the intake of saturated fatty acids in the diet of Chinese residents has shown a significant upward trend, while the proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids intake has decreased, especially the intake of DHA and EPA, which is lower in both the north and the south.

Overall, the intake ratio of saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids among Chinese residents is not reasonable, and many people do not consume enough unsaturated fatty acids.

How should we eat unsaturated fatty acids?

At this point, some people may want to compare their eating habits. There are many common foods rich in unsaturated fatty acids, the main ones are the following:

1. Most common, cooking oil

Cooking oil is the most common source of unsaturated fatty acids. Various vegetable oils are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, but the types vary.

For example, olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid); flaxseed oil and tea oil are rich in Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil and peanut oil contain both monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic acid, linolenic acid, etc.); the linoleic acid content in corn oil is very high.

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2. The most delicious, deep sea fish

Seafood tastes wonderful, and many deep-sea fish are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, such as salmon, tuna, sardines, trout, etc.; mussels, scallops, oysters and other shellfish also contain a certain amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids.

The unsaturated fatty acids contained in these deep-sea fish and shellfish are mainly Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, with high content of DHA and EPA. These two polyunsaturated fatty acids have the functions of regulating blood lipids, improving blood circulation, reducing blood viscosity, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, etc., and have many positive significances for preventing cardiovascular diseases and protecting cardiovascular health.

3. Most convenient, nuts

The reason why nuts have become a very popular healthy snack is closely related to their high content of unsaturated fatty acids.

For example, the proportion of linolenic acid and linoleic acid in walnuts is relatively high, the proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids in hazelnuts and almonds is relatively high, and the proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids in pistachios is relatively high, while the mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids in pecans, cashews, and peanuts are relatively balanced.

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Since we don't eat enough unsaturated fatty acids, do we need to supplement them? Of course not! We should remind everyone that even if foods with unsaturated fatty acids are better, we should still pay attention to controlling the intake and choosing the right cooking methods. Unsaturated fatty acids are essentially fats, and excessive intake will affect health. If you don't use low-oil and low-salt cooking methods, it will be easier to cause excessive intake of calories and fat. Imagine brushing marine fish and shellfish with thick oil, and then sprinkle them with heavy seasonings to make a small barbecue. It tastes good, but you will also really consume more salt, oil and carcinogens from barbecue.

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If you want to better obtain the benefits of unsaturated fatty acids, if conditions permit, you can choose to have a small handful of plain nuts (with shells) for breakfast, a piece of steamed sea fish for lunch, and a plate of boiled shellfish for dinner. They are delicious even if eaten alone.

In fact, no matter how many scientific research conclusions there are, the secret of healthy eating is still inseparable from the simplest underlying logic: food diversification, good distribution of three meals, light food with less oil and salt, and eating until you are 80% full. I wish everyone a happy and healthy meal every time!

References

[1]GaoJ,LiC,ChenH,LiZ-H,YouF-F,SongW-Q,ZhongW-F,ChenP-L,YangJ,HuangQ-M,etal.Effect ofMeal-TimingontheAssociationofUnsaturatedFattyAcidswithAll-CauseandCardiovascularMortalityamongAdults:AProspectiveCohortStudywith10-YearFollow-Up. Nutrients.2024;16(13):2071.

[2]O'MahoneyLL,MatuJ,PriceOJ,BirchKM,AjjanRA,FarrarD,TappR,WestDJ,DeightonK,CampbellMD.Omega-3polyunsaturatedfattyacidsfavourablymodulatec ardiometabolicbiomarkersintype2diabetes:ameta-analysisandmeta-regressionofrandomizedcontrolledtrials.CardiovascDiabetol.2018Jul7;17(1):98.

[3]ChandaW,JosephTP,GuoXF,etal.Effectivenessofomega-3polyunsaturatedfattyacidsagainstmicrobialpathogens[J].JournalofZhejiangUniversity.Science.B,2018,19(4).

[4] Deng Zeyuan, Zhou Xiaoqi, Huang Yuhua, et al. Investigation and analysis of dietary fatty acid intake of Chinese residents over 20 years[J]. Journal of Food and Biotechnology, 2008, 27(1):13.

[5] Zhang Jian, Wang Chunrong, Gao Junquan, et al. Study on dietary lipid patterns in different regions of China [C]//New Observation on Nutrition and Health (Issue 16): Special Topic on Essential Fatty Acids. 2002.

Planning and production

Author: Wang Lu, registered nutritionist in China

Review丨Zhang Yu, researcher/PhD, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, national health science expert