Attention has long focused on what people eat, but now it is beginning to focus on when they eat. Recent research suggests that the timing of meals, aligned with the body’s natural rhythms, may impact overall health and how people feel throughout the day.
Eating meals aligned with daily hormonal shifts, to support energy levels and manage metabolism, is called circadian eating and means matching food decisions to our internal clock.
1. Try to eat breakfast around 8 AM when cortisol is at its peak
Eating breakfast when cortisol is peaking is important so the body has enough energy to wake up and be alert. Most people’s cortisol levels peak in the 7 – 8 AM range. These daily cortisol levels are part of the body’s daily clock called the circadian rhythm.
Eating breakfast during this time can help to support these hormone levels. Eating soon after awaking supports stable blood sugar levels. A current diet trend is fasting in the morning, but sometimes this may mean that cortisol levels might be too low or cause spikes later in the day, which are undesirable.
Eating a balanced breakfast is also important. A breakfast should include protein, like eggs or yogurt. Healthy fats, such as avocado or nuts, will add energy to support daily activity. Additionally, a breakfast with a little bit of whole grains offering slow-digesting carbohydrates, like half a piece of toast or oatmeal, is also helpful.
Eating breakfast soon after waking tells the body that it is time to start the day, even though it isn’t always a heavy or a full meal. This can help people feel more alert and energized throughout the day. If someone’s not very hungry, they could eat something small, like fruit or a handful of nuts.
People who tend to eat breakfast later, around 8 AM, may feel better as the day continues. Breakfast can help the body keep its natural rhythm. It may also help people not crave later in the day, and avoid low energy in the afternoon and evening.
Having time for breakfast does not have to be difficult or long. Eating simple foods that people like may work. Drinking water in the morning may also be helpful. This is needed. It does help the body start the day off right.
2. Avoid eating within 3 hours of sleeping for better digestion.
Eating too close to sleeping makes digestion harder. Lying down soon after eating means the stomach has to work against gravity. This can slow down (and possibly upset) digestion, therefore may lead to discomfort at bedtime.
Waiting about three hours between eating and going to bed will allow the body to do most of the digestion while awake. The body can start the slow process of emptying the stomach after 3 hours, and lower the risk of having discomfort related to food ingestion (e.g. acid reflux or heartburn).
The digestive system is designed to slow down as night comes; eating late in the evening may cause food to remain in the stomach longer because of the change of pace in digestion. This can inhibit sleep quality and may even cause someone to wake up feeling uncomfortable or full.
Research has shown, people who do not consume late-night meals often have better sleep quality and experience less stomach pain or disrupted sleep due to indigestion. They typically find themselves feeling more refreshed the next day.
Circadian rhythms can play a role in digestion as well. The body operates under a daily cycle that can affect a multitude of factors, including digestion. Avoiding late meals and aligning mealtimes with this cycle can aid digestion in the gut, promote balanced hormone levels, and so forth.
While some may still enjoy a light snack in the evening, it should be consumed at least a couple of hours before sleep. If a person is justified in needing a light snack, foods that are more easily digestible, yogurt or fruit, would be assessed in a better context of playing part of a timing strategy.
Concerning late feeding, the majority avoid big meals or heavy foods when they know they are likely to go to bed soon (ex, 8 pm meals will impact digestion during sleep; 940 pm will induce a belch!). For people who know they are prone to reflux and other/myriad problems with sleep, tweaking and timing meals can result in observable differences of how a person feels overnight.
3. Use a 10-12 hour eating window, like an 8 am to 6 pm one.
Many people find it useful to stay within a 10-12 hour mark for eating. This means starting the first meal in the morning and ending the last meal in the early evening, or say 8 AM – 6 PM.
Eating in this time frame allows us to align with our natural daily rhythms. Cortisol rises late in the night, peaks in the early morning, and declines again later in the day and at night. Eating in a window that tapers off in the evening allows us to align with these healthy patterns of cortisol secretion.
Ending food consumption early in the evening lets our body’s brain start winding down for sleep. This falls in line with our metabolism favoring food consumption during daylight hours, and slowing down in the evening.
In addition, a 10 – 12 hour eating window is less restrictive for many people than a shorter eating window. There is still enough flexibility to eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner with enough time to eat early or without feeling pressured and around hunger.
Some people start with a 12 hour eating window, or 8 AM – 8 PM. Once people are used to a 12 hour eating window, they may decide to restrict it down to a 10 hour eating window, or 8 AM – 6 PM. This will allow for more potential health benefits, as long as it is not too restrictive.
Lunch and dinner should occur earlier during the day, rather than late at night. Late-night food consumption may put extra work on the digestive system that acts as a roadblock to sleep. Late-night eating may also counteract our metabolism slowing down at night.
When we eat all nutrient dense food during the active part of the day, it is easier to stabilize blood sugar levels and sustain energy levels. During the daytime, or period we are active, we can assimilate, digest, and better utilize the nutrients of our food.
Eating at the same time every day provides the support of a stable routine. The closer it gets to being every day the same time for meal times, the better the body’s time clock may set. If the body’s inner clock is better set, falling asleep and waking up on time may be an easier action during the day.
The eating window is flexible based on your needs, but it is most important not to eat too late at night. Eating too late can disrupt good sleep hygiene and natural hormone cycles.
People may find it takes a few days to adjust to this eating schedule. However, after the first week, people will likely find they felt better overall and could find a 10-12 hour eating window compatible with family meals, work schedules, and so on.
For many people, a 10 – 12 hour window is a nice middle ground between what the body’s daily rhythms are asking for regarding food consumption and the possibility of daily life. It is a small change (4 hours less selected eating time) that will ultimately lead to positive and beneficial effects. When we broadly consider the body’s time and internal workings in that context of strength and resilience, and when we match it with the natural timing of the body, we may gain real value in the small change of time.
4. Prioritize protein-rich foods in the morning to stabilize blood sugar.
Eating a breakfast that is high in protein can help keep blood sugar steady throughout the morning. Protein helps slow down digestion, which means sugar from food enters the bloodstream more slowly. This can help prevent blood sugar spikes and crashes.
Morning is when cortisol levels in the body are naturally higher. Cortisol helps control how the body uses energy, including sugar. Eating protein at breakfast works with these hormone rhythms to support better blood sugar management.
Common protein-rich foods for breakfast include eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, tofu, and lean meats like turkey or salmon. Even plant-based options like beans or nut butters can be good choices. These foods can help people feel full and satisfied until the next meal.
Pairing protein with some healthy fats, carbs, and fiber makes a balanced meal. For example, eggs with whole grain toast and a small piece of fruit offer protein, fiber, and steady energy. Such choices can lead to fewer cravings and less snacking during the day.
Studies have shown that starting the day with a high-protein meal helps keep blood sugar more stable, not just in the morning but sometimes for meals later in the day. This can be very helpful for people who want to avoid energy crashes.
5. Skip late-night snacking to reduce insulin resistance.
It is common for a person to snack late at night, though eating food close to bedtime can have several effects on the body. For one, the body’s ability to handle sugar at night compared to during the day is not as efficient, because later in the evening, the body’s insulin sensitivity decreases. This means that the body may not be as efficient at utilizing insulin to manage glucose in the bloodstream when a person consumes food late at night, which can result in a higher blood sugar level while they sleep. Long-term, this can lead to more insulin resistance.
The body’s stress hormone, cortisol, also follows a rhythm during the day; it naturally rises as the day progresses and then falls in the evening. Late-night eating is asked to be fought against when cortisol is lower and therefore it could presumptively not be normal to the body.
Studies have indicated that late-night eating produces a higher risk of having insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. After late-night eating, the pancreas has an increased burden to regulate blood sugar levels for a late-night midnight snack compared to snacking earlier in the day. Over time excess demands on the insulin system can wear out the system.
If you are able to cut out nighttime snacking, this could help you maintain better blood sugar levels, and is easier for the body to manage blood sugar levels when meals are consumed earlier in the day. Eating a light dinner, multiple hours before the time you normally go to bed, gives the body time to process the food you have eaten.
Depending on how many times a person eats in a day, skipping late-night snacks could assist in regulating hunger signals as well. If a person learns to avoid eating outside of meals for late-night eating snacks, they may learn develop easier weight management and control cravings. Additionally, eating so that it is consistent with the cortisol and insulin patterns in the body is better working with own body rhythm.
Eating times that are spaced 4-6 hours apart and avoiding late night snacks are generally more aligned with the body’s internal clock. Additionally, putting a pause in eating overnight allows the body to reset and be ready to resume the following day to manage food. Eating like this is an adjustment that could have a significant impact on one’s health.
6. Eat more substantial meals earlier in the day to align better with metabolic processing.
Many people regularly eat their largest meal at night. Studies show that it may not be the most health-promoting strategy. The body processes and utilizes food based on what time of day it is.
In the morning and early afternoon, metabolic processes will be more active, meaning that earlier in the day, the body is more efficient at using the nutrients from food. The body is also more sensitive to insulin in those earlier hours. This means that with increased insulin sensitivity, the body is going to do better at controlling blood sugar after eating, which can help maximize energy levels throughout one’s day and typically lower the risk of potential health problems.
Eating a large meal later in the day can cause the body to strain in regulating blood sugar levels and recover from food intake or fullness. Since digestion can be a slower process later in the night, the possibility of being uncomfortable can lower sleep quality.
Eating a large meal at an earlier time and having a lighter meal later in the day uses the body’s natural instinct for mealtime decisions. This allows for a better usage of meal time at certain points or times of the day, which naturally align with the body’s 24-hour clock, the circadian rhythm.
For many people, lunch is often missed altogether or eaten very briefly, but maximizing lunch as a healthy meal could be beneficial for health. The lunch or early afternoon meal time allows enough time for the body to utilize the energy after food consumption, with the rest of the day.
Of course, dinner does not need to be a heavy meal. Eating smaller amounts of food at dinner helps the body slow down and prepare for sleep.
Most will find themselves with more food at meal times earlier in the day over the course of a few weeks of eating smaller amounts of food at dinnertime. The body learns to expect more food earlier in the day and fewer, smaller amounts of food at night.
While it is common to feel strange at first, gradually graduating to smaller amounts of food at meals and at meal times may help to make the transition more successful. Proportionately decreasing smaller food portions at dinner while increasing slightly at lunch helps the body adjust more easily.
7. Consider delaying dinner up to five hours to observe possible circadian effects.
Some people wonder what happens when eating dinner later than normal. There are studies done by scientists asking people to later than expected up to five hours later than they transition to later meal times. The change in timing of meal times affects internal clocks, especially metabolic processes like glucose and fat regulation.
People can process meal time differently at later meal times; however, the time of day does have an impact on blood sugar rhythms. One study showed that delaying meal times is able to extend the rhythms of glucose cycles by 5 hours. High and low blood sugar levels have stable patterns when correlated to meal time,e meaning that higher levels of blood sugar are now lower in the new, later dinner time.
No change in cortisol was shown in the studies despite meal frequency and timing changes noted, as well as the reported timing study. Overall, meal timing management does not seem to be enough to change the “master clock” circadian rhythm to a large enough degree to account for the high and low blood sugar changes indicated above to move meal times later. Though some change in overall circadian rhythm is observed, some metabolic rhythms seem to display time frames that were ordered were observing meal times.
Both late dinner times will impact the body’s processing of the food they ate late at dinner, and the relative impact on the next day. In both normal weight and apparently healthy populations, research suggests elevated blood sugars at dinner lasting into the next morning at breakfast after they have late dinners, which can be important in thinking about their relationship with their food, diet, and health.
Taking into consideration both consistently late dinners and late dinners should be taken with caution from the information given. Late dinners and dinner meals are given to new issues of people managing their energy, sleep, or hunger patterns. Individuals vary, both in biological and personal aspects, and will not have the same responses if meal timing is adjusted.
People using late dinners over a short period of time may want to just have a better sense of the relative impact on their energy, digestion, sleep, and general well-being. Making mental note of their sleeping, waking hunger levels, or how they were feeling relative to the previous morning would help provide assessment and direction to first be aware of the change. If they experienced some negative or stressful nucleus eating late in the day, that could lead to reflection about changing their meal times back to improved timing i.e., daytime food.
