Possibly. A long-term study from Oregon Health & Science University of nearly 200,000 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study, Nurses’ Health Study II, and Health Professionals Follow-up Study found that people who regularly ate after dinner or after bedtime had a 20% to 30% higher risk of liver disease than those who did not eat late. The conditions tracked were metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (fatty liver disease) and cirrhosis.
Researchers suspect the link involves circadian rhythms, because the liver is especially sensitive to the body’s internal clock. The study was observational and relied on self-reported habits, so it shows an association rather than proof that late eating causes liver damage. It was published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology (2026; DOI 10.1016/j.cgh.2026.09.047).
Image: Open refrigerator with food at night. Photo by W.carter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.