In nearly 200,000 adults, eating after dinner or after bedtime lined up with a higher rate of fatty liver disease

What the research found

Study (observational cohorts). Robert Wilechansky at Oregon Health and Science University, with colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital, report in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology (online early October 2026; DOI 10.1016/j.cgh.2026.09.047). The Nurses' Health Study, the Nurses' Health Study II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study together covered almost 200,000 people who described whether they ate after dinner or after bedtime. The university release on 9 Oct 2026 said that habit lined up with about a 20 to 30 percent higher rate of fatty liver disease, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and cirrhosis. A HealthDay account of the same paper gave adjusted hazard ratios of 1.36 for fatty liver disease and 1.28 for cirrhosis. One summary of the cohort put the median age at 59. The authors say the liver follows the body clock, and that only a small fraction of fatty liver cases become cirrhosis. Meal timing was self-reported. This is an association, not a reason to diagnose liver disease from a late snack. Not medical advice.

Evidence level: Human study. A study in people, but an association isn't proof of cause.

Read the original at OHSU / Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology