Attention, the time at which you take your breakfast impacts your life expectancy. And if, to live longer, the time of meals counted as much as what we put in our plate? A new study claims that the moment of breakfast has repercussions on longevity. Generally, nutritional advice focuses mainly on th…
Attention, the time at which you take your breakfast impacts your life expectancy. And if, to live longer, the time of meals counted as much as what we put in our plate? A new study claims that the moment of breakfast has repercussions on longevity. Generally, nutritional advice focuses mainly on the content of the plate. Beyond the traditional 'eat five fruits and vegetables a day', they focus on limiting ultra-processed products, salt or added sugars, and on the need to adopt a balanced diet. This time, a study published at the end of July in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition proposes to pay attention to meal times. The time at which we take our first and last meals would influence our life expectancy, reveals Science Alert. The study looked at the eating habits of over 30,000 American adults aged 40 and over, as part of a national survey conducted between 1999 and 2018. The participants indicated the foods and drinks consumed, as well as meal times. During the follow-up, which lasted nearly nine years, over 7,000 deaths were recorded, including nearly a third due to cardiovascular diseases. The results provide clues on the times that would improve our health and longevity. The most clear conclusion concerns what scientists call 'the first caloric intake'. People who eat for the first time between 8am and 10am have a 10% higher risk of death compared to those who take their breakfast between 7am and 8am. This risk even increases by a fifth when the first meal is taken between 10am and 12pm, and by 29% when you snack on your first snack in the afternoon. In this last case, the risk of cardiovascular mortality explodes (+46% compared to the group that takes breakfast between 7am and 8am). The researchers estimate that at 50 years old, the life expectancy of those who start eating very late is on average two and a half years lower. Dinner around 8pm, the ideal The time of the last meal of the day has also given surprising results. Eating before 7pm is associated with a higher risk of mortality of 13% compared to those who dine between 7pm and 8pm. After midnight, it rises to 27%, always compared to this reference group. 'However, this does not mean that eating between 7pm and 8pm is the optimal time for everyone,' said Zhilei Shan, professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, and co-author of the study. Why life expectancy has stopped progressing despite medical advances Eating the same thing every day: what impact on health? How to explain the link between meal times and longevity? 'The time of meals is an important signal for peripheral circadian rhythms,' explains Zhilei Shan. A late snack like eating late in the evening could contribute to a disruption of the circadian rhythm and metabolic disturbances.' This conclusion, however, has limits. It points out a link without providing evidence that a late breakfast or dinner reduces life expectancy. Other factors may explain the differences in longevity between individuals in the study, such as disturbed sleep, night work or economic pressure.
“On the sole basis of these results, people should not radically change their eating habits,” concludes Zhilei Shan.
