A research team from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) in Spain analyzed nutrition and weight data of 7,074 people between the ages of 40 and 65. The study found that an earlier breakfast and dinner without snacks was associated with a lower body mass index five years later.
These findings add to a growing body of research examining how meal times can affect our health. In this case, the researchers think their results may be linked to the body’s circadian rhythms, the internal biological clocks we all have that run on a 24-hour cycle, signaling us when to rest and when to wake up.
“Our results suggest that extending the overnight fasting period when combined with an earlier dinner and an earlier breakfast may help maintain a healthy weight,” says ISGlobal epidemiologist Luciana Pons-Muzzo.
“We think this may be due to eating earlier in the day being more in line with circadian rhythms, better utilizing calories and regulating appetite more effectively, which may contribute to maintaining a healthy weight.”
Researchers used a variety of statistical methods, taking into account variables such as age and sleep, and found that eating breakfast later and eating more frequently was associated with a higher body mass index, while longer overnight fasting was associated with a lower indicator. The team also performed cluster analysis to group participants based on their eating habits.
