A new study presented at the 2026 Digestive Disease Week conference suggests that the combination of chronic stress and late-night snacking significantly increases the risk of abnormal bowel habits and disrupts gut microbial diversity. The research, which has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, analyzed data from more than 11,000 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and over 4,000 participants in the American Gut Project, according to lead author Dr. Harika Dadigiri, a resident physician at New York Medical College at Saint Mary’s and Saint Clare’s Hospital. [1]
The study identified what researchers termed a “chrononutrition-stress axis” that measures how stress levels affect eating patterns and timing. Among the NHANES cohort, individuals with high stress who were defined as late-night eaters were 39.3% more likely to experience constipation or diarrhea, compared with 23.2% among those with low stress who ate at typical times, according to the findings. [2]
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