Breakfast like a king, dinner like a pauper? The old popular recommendation finds new reasons for interest, but not yet a definitive proof. A study conducted on over 31,000 American adults found that consuming the first meal very late is associated with higher mortality an…
Breakfast like a king, dinner like a pauper? The old popular recommendation finds new reasons for interest, but not yet a definitive proof. A study conducted on over 31,000 American adults found that consuming the first meal very late is associated with higher mortality and lower life expectancy. The work, published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, analyzed data from 31,044 people aged 40 and over. Researchers considered the time of the first and last caloric intake and the width of the so-called nutritional window, linking these information to deaths that occurred during the observation period. Compared to those who ate their first meal between 7 and 8, people who started eating after noon presented a risk of death from all causes higher by 29% and an even more marked association with cardiovascular mortality. Even an extremely early last meal or, on the opposite extreme, consumed after midnight was associated with less favorable outcomes. The body also has peripheral clocks. Metabolism does not work in the same way at all hours. In addition to the central clock regulated by light, liver, pancreas, intestine, muscles and adipose tissue have their own rhythms, synchronized even by food arrival. Insulin sensitivity tends to be generally better in the first part of the day. The same amount of calories consumed at night can produce different responses of glucose, triglycerides and hunger hormones compared to a daytime meal. Eating very late can also coincide with shorter sleep, reflux, less physical activity and greater consumption of calorie-rich foods. This network of factors explains why chrono-nutrition is becoming an independent field of research. It's not the proof that advancing breakfast will lengthen life The study is observational. It can demonstrate an association, not that the time causes directly the difference in mortality. Those who eat the first meal after noon may be a night worker, a person with insomnia, depression, fragility or generally less favorable habits. Even skipping breakfast does not have the same meaning for everyone. It can be part of a planned eating strategy or derive from poor appetite, economic difficulties, work shifts, illness or loss of autonomy. The data do not therefore authorize indicating 7 as a universal biological threshold. Rather, they suggest that a completely shifted daily meal could be an indicator of alteration of circadian rhythms and, perhaps, a factor to intervene. Regularity may count more than the exact hour For most people, it is reasonable to distribute meals in daytime hours, avoid large amounts of food immediately before bedtime and maintain sufficiently regular times. However, what is eaten also counts: advancing a breakfast rich in sugars and ultra-processed products does not automatically transform it into a protective meal. Clinical studies are needed in which people with similar characteristics are assigned to different eating schedules. Only then can we understand how much of the risk depends on the clock and how much on the lifestyle that accompanies extreme hours. Essential bibliography Hu W et al.
Meal timing and eating window with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and life expectancy. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2026. PubMed Manoogian ENC et al. Time-restricted eating for the prevention and management of metabolic diseases. Endocrine Reviews, 2022. St-Onge MP et al. Meal timing and frequency: implications for cardiovascular disease prevention. Circulation, 2017. Digital edition Mondosanità is a journalistic title registered with the Court of Turin Registration N. 11/2020 of 23/05/2020. Except where otherwise indicated, all Mondosanità content is released under the "Creative Commons Attribution - Non-commercial - No derivative works 3.0 Italy License". Registration number ROC 34464. Publisher: Editoriale Mondo Cooperative Society | C.F. and P. IVA 12291610017 | Editorial office: Via Carmagnola 4, Turin. Responsible director: Ettore Mautone. Central chief editor: Marco Digiorgio The company perceives the contributions of which to the decree-law 15 May 2017, n. 70. Indication made pursuant to letter f) of paragraph 2 of article 5 of the same decree-law. The title adheres to the Institute of self-regulation advertising www.iap.it. 2026 Mondosanità. All rights reserved.
