Apr 20, 2015 01:48 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

New research suggests that fasting overnight may reduce breast cancer risk in women.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego found that decreasing the amount of time spent eating and increasing overnight fasting reduces glucose levels and may reduce the risk of developing breast cancer among women.

"Increasing the duration of overnight fasting could be a novel strategy to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer," Catherine Marinac, first author on the paper, said in a statement. "This is a simple dietary change that we believe most women can understand and adopt. It may have a big impact on public health without requiring complicated counting of calories or nutrients."

Researchers found that women who fasted for longer periods of time overnight had significantly better control over blood glucose concentrations. Their findings also showed that each three hour increase in nighttime fasting was associated with a 4 percent lower postprandial glucose level. This was found to be true regardless of how much women ate.

"The dietary advice for cancer prevention usually focuses on limiting consumption of red meat, alcohol and refined grains while increasing plant-based foods," Ruth Patterson, coauthor of the study, said in a statement. "New evidence suggests that when and how often people eat can also play a role in cancer risk."

In the study, participants reported eating five times per day with a mean nighttime fasting of 12 hours. Those who reported longer fast durations also indicated they consumed fewer calories per day, ate fewer calories after 10 p.m. and had fewer eating episodes.

The findings are detailed in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. 

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