![\"Non-Alcoholic](\"https:\/\/blueheronhealthnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/NAFLD-388619518.jpg\")
People\u2019s preferred time to be active is known as their chronotype.<\/p>\nPeople\u2019s preferred time to be active is known as their chronotype.<\/p>\n
A new study in the International Journal of Obesity shows that your chronotype determines whether you will develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and how severe it will be.<\/p>\n
Since the risk of NAFLD is highest in obese people, the Italian researchers decided to analyze only patients with obesity.<\/p>\n
They recruited 87 people from the Italian Centre for the Care and Well-Being of Patients with Obesity at Federico II University Hospital, 73.5% of whom were women. The participants had an average BMI score of 46.5.<\/p>\n
The researchers gave them the Home-Ostberg morningness-eveningness questionnaire to assess their chronotype, took their body measurements, calculated their body fat percentage, and measured some biochemical data related to fat processing and liver function.<\/p>\n
They used this information to calculate the severity of the participants’ NAFLD through the liver fat equation, hepatic steatosis index, and index of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).<\/p>\n
They split the participants into morning, intermediate, and evening prototypes, comprising those that prefer to be most active in the morning, the daytime, or the evening, respectively.<\/p>\n
31% fell into the morning chronotype, 36.8% into the intermediate chronotype, and 32.2% into the evening chronotype.<\/p>\n
Given the severity of their obesity, it is unsurprising that all of the subjects had some level of NAFLD.<\/p>\n
The researchers found some interesting associations.<\/p>\n
2.\tCompared to those with the intermediate chronotype, those with the evening chronotype had higher BMI scores and higher waist circumferences.<\/p>\n
3.\tThose with the evening chronotype had the most visceral fat surrounding their abdominal organs and the highest level of fat buildup in their livers.<\/p>\n
4.\tWhile all of the subjects had some level of NAFLD, only those with the evening chronotype had non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, which involves inflammation in the liver and the scarring of liver tissue.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
Does this mean that you should try to change your chronotype if you are currently most active in the evenings?<\/p>\n