Weight loss advice tends to focus on what to eat to lose weight so much that many of us are forgetting to look at other factors - like the best time to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner.
While ultimately whether you follow a diet that and how much food you consume will be the determiner of weight loss, choosing when you eat meals could have a huge impact on how hungry you get throughout the day.
Luckily, recent research by the University of Murcia in Spain has researched the best time to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner for optimum performance through the day.
They found that the best time to have breakfast is just after 7am - 7.11am to be precise. It's also better to get stuck into your lunch sooner rather than later - between 12.30 and 1pm. 12.38pm is the best time. And when it comes to dinner, the later you leave it the worse it can be for your diet. So try to eat dinner between 6pm and 6.30pm, with 6.14pm being the best time according to the study.
But if you're a late riser and don't see yourself making a healthy breakfast before the sunrise, "aiming to eat within 1 hour of waking is ideal," says food scientist Dr Claire Shortt. "It keeps our hunger hormones in check and keeps us fuller and satisfied for longer."
Regardless of your health goals, there are a few things to keep in mind regarding meal timing.
At the end of the day, weight management primarily depends on the total amount of calories you’ve consumed. Eating more calories than you need will eventually result in unwanted weight gain.
What’s more, many surveys and studies have shown that late-night eating is linked to a higher likelihood of choosing unhealthy foods.
Many nighttime snacks are highly processed and contain large amounts of added sugar or fat, making them calorie-dense and nutrient-poor
Furthermore, nighttime snacks are often eaten in front of the television or computer screen, which may lead to mindless eating. This is when you may end up consuming more calories than you actually want to, simply because you’re distracted.
Regularly overeating less healthy foods into the night may result in unwanted weight gain and other health issues, like disrupted sleep or indigestion.
If these are of concern, you may want to practice setting an end time for your last meal of the day, ensuring you meet all of your calorie and nutrient needs before then.