Food Quality is Not the Only Criterion for Ideal Weight... What is the Right Time to Eat Your Meals?

SadaNews - Maintaining balanced meals can be challenging with a busy schedule, long commute times, and family commitments. Many people struggle to eat healthy meals throughout the day or skip them in favor of a larger dinner later.

According to a report from "Farewell Health", research suggests that the timing of meals may play an important role in disease prevention and weight management, a concept known as "Chrononutrition".

The timing of meals may be just as important as what you eat

Chrononutrition, also known as time-restricted eating, studies how the timing of meals affects metabolism through the body's internal biological clock. This clock governs key vital functions such as sleep, body temperature, and mental alertness.

Eating in accordance with the body's natural rhythm may support overall health. Chrononutrition can also aid in weight loss, blood pressure regulation, and blood sugar control.

Lisa Young, PhD and Assistant Professor of Nutrition at New York University, told "Farewell Health": "Aligning your meals with your daily rhythm may be associated with various health improvements, including reduced risks of chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure. This pattern may also contribute to improved sleep quality."

How can reducing the eating window benefit your body?

The essence of chrononutrition lies in shortening the daily eating period, according to John Hawley, PhD, and Director of the Human Performance and Metabolism Centre at the Australian Catholic University, Melbourne.

For example, if you usually have breakfast at 7 AM and dinner at 8 PM, you could reduce this period from 13 hours to 10 or 11 hours. This approach can be particularly beneficial for people with obesity or type 2 diabetes.

Hawley confirmed that time-restricted eating is not the same as intermittent fasting, explaining that long fasting periods "disrupt" the concept of chrononutrition because they interfere with the body's natural rhythm.

He said: "Time-restricted eating aims to maintain a natural daily rhythm throughout the day."

The impact of late-night meals on metabolism

Avoiding meals late at night is a key element of chrononutrition. Every meal triggers a hormonal response, and eating during nighttime inactivity increases hunger and negatively affects metabolism.

Hawley added: "In the evening, blood sugar levels are elevated, and since you are often lying down and not moving, sugar remains high. By moving dinner to an earlier time, time-restricted eating helps lower nighttime sugar levels."

This can be viewed as a chain reaction: Eating earlier may help regulate blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of diabetes and obesity.

Simple tips to align your meals with your biological rhythm

Late meals can sometimes be inevitable, but regularly snacking before bed or skipping lunch in favor of a big dinner can negatively impact health.

The first step is to maintain a regular sleep schedule. Young said: "If you sleep from 11 PM to 7 AM, try to have breakfast about an hour after waking up, between 8 and 9 AM."

If you must have a late meal, choose healthy options. Hawley explained that foods rich in fats or carbohydrates are not ideal at night, and it is better to opt for light proteins.

Hawley concluded: "We hope that over the next decade, there will be enough scientific studies to include meal timing in official dietary guidelines. It is surprising that this field still remains limited as of now."