Figure 4.
The Average Plasma Glucose Concentration in Constant Routine Conditions Is Reduced Following a 5-hr Delay in Meal Times
(A–C) 24-hr average concentration of glucose (A), insulin (B), and triglyceride (C) in plasma samples collected in constant routine conditions following early meals (CR1; black circles) and following a 5-hr delay in meal time (CR2; white squares). There was a significant decrease in the mean glucose concentration following late meals (5.45 ± 0.11 mmol/L) compared to early meals (5.72 ± 0.11 mmol/L, t(9) = 5.22, p < 0.001, paired t test). Following Bonferroni correction of the critical p value, there was no significant decrease in the mean concentration of plasma insulin following late meals (208.2 ± 30.46 versus 192.6 ± 26.75 pmol/L, early versus late, respectively; t(9) = 2.27, p = 0.049, paired t test). There was no significant difference in mean triglyceride concentration (1.22 ± 0.12 versus 1.21 ± 0.14 mmol/L, early versus late meals, respectively; t(9) = 0.26, p = 0.804, paired t test).
(D) Peak and trough concentration of glucose in plasma samples collected in constant routine conditions following early meals (black bars) and a 5-hr delay in meal time (white bars). Using two-way repeated-measures ANOVA, there was an overall significant effect of meals (F(1, 9) = 22.98, p = 0.001), a significant difference between peak and trough values (F(1, 9) = 177.6, p < 0.001), but no significant interaction between the two factors (F(1, 9) = 0.01, p = 0.914). ∗∗∗p < 0.001 (early meals/CR1 versus late meals/CR2). Data are plotted as mean ± SEM.
(A–D) Statistical significance is defined as p < 0.01 (following Bonferroni correction for analysis of plasma concentration in five markers). Data are from n = 10 participants.