The Best Times to Eat Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Timing is everything, as they say. And there’s some truth to that, at least when it comes to when you eat. Recently, researchers have investigated how meal timing can influence your metabolic health —how your body responds to eating. For example, there’s evidence suggesting that optimal meal timing can impact your daily calorie burn, hunger and fullness hormones, blood sugar regulation, inflammation, and sleep — factors that play a role in your well-being now and in the future. Here are the best times to eat your meals, according to science.
The best time to eat breakfast
The best time to start eating depends on your body’s circadian rhythm — a complex system driven by the sun’s light and dark cycles. This internal clock affects your hormones, digestion, and more. If you think about it, it makes sense. Your body is more efficient at metabolizing food earlier in the day — the hours that most of us are more active. Food, after all, is what helps your body create energy, which may explain why researchers have found that breakfast eaters are more active in the morning than breakfast skippers.
Other research offers additional insight into the benefits of eating early. A study of 10,575 adults found that people who ate breakfast early — before 8:30 a.m. — had lower blood sugar levels and less insulin resistance–factors that lower the odds of Type 2 diabetes — than those who ate later.
There’s also evidence suggesting that people who ate breakfast daily were less likely to have high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol (the type that’s good for you), and high blood pressure. In other words, making breakfast part of your daily routine may lower your risk factors for heart disease.
The best time to eat lunch
While there are fewer studies on lunch timing than breakfast and dinner timing, the studies that do exist point in the same direction: Earlier is better. For one small study, healthy adults underwent four protocols: A 12 p.m. early lunch, a 2 p.m. late lunch, and a standardized meal (early or late) with an apple beforehand.
It turns out that lunch timing made a big difference. After the late lunch, people experienced significantly higher peak post-meal glucose, lower insulin sensitivity, and an increase in insulin resistance. These are factors that raise the risk of prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile, the late lunch eaters also experienced larger blood sugar swings over the next day compared to the earlier lunch.
Another study looked at eating a larger lunch compared to a more significant dinner. For those assigned to the larger lunch, 50% of daily calories were served at that meal. The same number of calories were provided to the larger dinner eaters. Once again, having an earlier calorie load was associated with some healthy payoffs. The bigger lunch/lighter dinner eaters lost more weight than the other group, and they had improvements in insulin sensitivity.
The best time to eat dinner
There are also benefits to eating your last meal on the earlier side. A 2022 study found that, compared to early eaters, late eaters experienced a slower calorie burn and changes to their fat metabolism that promoted fat storage. At the same time, their hunger hormones were disrupted, so they were hungrier, and had delayed fullness. In other words, people who eat later dinners have a tendency to burn fewer calories and continue to feel hungry after their evening meal — factors that can make it more challenging to maintain a healthy weight.
As for how early you should eat dinner, according to one study, 6:00 p.m. may be ideal. The small study involved people eating dinner at 6:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. and then swapping conditions. The researchers found that when people ate earlier, they had better blood sugar regulation and improved fat metabolism, which is a factor in fat storage.
Here’s a practical approach to meal timing
Most of the evidence suggests that disrupting your body’s circadian rhythms — say, by skipping breakfast and eating close to bedtime —can have unfavorable effects on your blood sugar control, hunger hormones, and other markers of metabolic health. However, since we live in the real world rather than a lab, eating at precise times may be out of sync with work schedules, family life, and social activities. Here are some healthy eating practices to try, even if your timing is less than ideal.
Get enough protein at breakfast. Most adults benefit from 20 to 30 grams of protein in the morning — when your body needs to replenish muscle tissue that naturally gets broken down overnight. Some protein-rich options include lower-sugar Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, and tofu. Round out your breakfast with wholesome carbs (including fruits, veggies, beans, and whole grains) and plant-based fats from nuts, seeds, avocados, or extra-virgin olive oil.
Eat the bulk of your calories earlier in the day. You need more fuel earlier in the day — when you’re working, running errands, and generally managing life. Since evidence suggests that front-loading your calories can reduce hunger later on, you may find that eating most of your calories early helps you stay satisfied with a lighter dinner.
Minimize snacking. Snacking can help tide you over and provide valuable nutrients if you’re going long stretches without a meal. But too much grazing can interfere with digestion, appetite signals, and meal timing. If you need several snacks, your meals might be too light.
Keep dinner light and lean. Try to have a lighter dinner, regardless of the timing. Think: non-starchy veggies, poultry or seafood, and a side portion of whole grains or starchy veggies.
Give yourself a food-free window before bedtime. It’s best to allow your body three hours to completely digest before hitting the hay.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
