Does When You Eat Really Matter? It Just Might

An old adage advises us that “early to bed makes you healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

That remains solid advice, but now we have a new twist. “Early to eat makes you healthy, wealthy, and wise.” (Wealthy, of course, in the sense that it will save you on medical bills.)

New studies show that what time you eat breakfast in the morning and dinner in the evening might matter, and may even reduce your risk of diabetes or some cancers.

Closer Look

Let’s take a closer look at how the studies reached those conclusions and what more they can tell us about when we eat rather than what we eat.

Eating Breakfast Early

The study included 100,000 participants, and it found that those who eat breakfast after 9 a.m. increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as nearly 60% compared with those wise early birds who consume that important early morning meal before 8 a.m.

Type 2 diabetes is linked with risk factors that we can do something about, such as physical activity, an unhealthy diet, and smoking.

Now we can add another factor that is almost as important: the time at which we eat.

Why is Timing Important?

This result makes sense biologically because skipping breakfast is known to affect glucose and lipid control as well as your levels of insulin.

You may have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and it's for good reason. Eating a good breakfast helps replenish your glucose after an overnight fasting period when you were asleep. This meal can help increase energy and alertness while providing you with essential nutrients.

If burning more calories is your goal, you shouldn't be skipping breakfast. It helps to jumpstart your metabolism, which helps you burn more calories throughout the day.

Eating Dinner Early

Breakfast isn't the only meal you should consider getting in early.

In a separate study the research team found that eating an early dinner or leaving an interval of at least two hours before going to bed are both linked with a lower risk of prostate and breast cancer.

Specifically, those people who consume their evening meal before 9 p.m.—or wait at least two hours before going to sleep after they have eaten—lower their risk of those types of cancer by 20% compared with those people who eat after 10 p.m. or who eat and sleep very soon afterward.

Importance of Our Bodies' Clocks

So, if you're one of those people that forgets to eat breakfast or eats their dinner right before bed, you may want to rethink your eating schedule. Wake up a little earlier to get the most important meal of the day in and be sure to plan out your dinners so you're not eating so late.

If you live a busy life, consider meal prepping, so you don't have to think twice about what you're going to eat. Or if food isn't on your mind, try setting a timer to remind yourself when to eat.

Your body will thank you for helping to give it a happier, healthier life.