Perazza F, Ravaioli F. Small bites, big impact: The importance of evening snacks in patients with advanced chronic liver disease. World J Hepatol 2025; 17(1): 101195 [DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i1.101195]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Federico Ravaioli, MD, PhD, Research Assistant, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, Bologna 40138, Italy. f.ravaioli@unibo.it
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Hepatol. Jan 27, 2025; 17(1): 101195 Published online Jan 27, 2025. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i1.101195
Small bites, big impact: The importance of evening snacks in patients with advanced chronic liver disease
Federica Perazza, Federico Ravaioli
Federica Perazza, Federico Ravaioli, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna 40138, Italy
Author contributions: Perazza F and Ravaioli F wrote the paper; Ravaioli F designed the overall concept and outline of the manuscript, edited the manuscript; all of the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Federico Ravaioli, MD, PhD, Research Assistant, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, Bologna 40138, Italy. f.ravaioli@unibo.it
Received: September 9, 2024 Revised: November 8, 2024 Accepted: December 2, 2024 Published online: January 27, 2025 Processing time: 121 Days and 11.8 Hours
Abstract
People with advanced chronic liver disease (ACLD) have an enhanced risk of malnutrition, which has multifactorial etiology and is mainly linked to a reduced energy and protein intake; malnutrition is critical for patients with cirrhosis since it is often associated with sarcopenia, a skeletal muscle depletion with a loss of muscle mass and function. Late-evening snacks have been extensively studied, and guidelines are recommended to counteract the effects of prolonged fasting at night in patients with ACLD. However, it has not been fully explored whether late evening snacking is clarified as a milestone to address the nutritional needs of people with ACLD or whether it has a potential role in improving body composition. In this randomised control trial, Yu et al demonstrated that long-term nocturnal snacks have the potential to significantly improve body composition by body fat mass, visceral fat area and body cell mass in patients with ACLD. While the improvement in skeletal muscle mass was minor, the promising results in other compositions provide hope for future research and patient care.
Core Tip: This editorial discusses a randomized control trial by Yu et al published in the World Journal of Hepatology, examining the effect of nocturnal snacks on patients with advanced chronic liver disease. The study aimed to assess late evening snacks' impact on body composition in cirrhosis patients. Findings suggest that nocturnal snacks may improve body fat mass, visceral fat area, and body cell mass, though their effect on skeletal muscle mass is limited. This result underscores the need for additional research on optimizing nutritional interventions in these patients.
