Eating late dinners may NOT harm our health… if you also have a late breakfast the next day, research finds
- Tim Spector of KCL, London, conducted a study of 80,000 adult eating habits
- The study found that a late dinner was only healthy if it was followed by a late breakfast
It is well known advice that eating late at night can cause weight gain and health complications.
But research has now shown that it’s fine to finish eating at 9:30 p.m. if you also have a late breakfast the next day.
Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, conducted a survey of 80,000 adults in the UK. He looked at different eating times and the time windows in which people eat.
The full results, collated by personalized nutrition company Zoe, won’t be published until later this year, but preliminary findings show that some can’t finish their evening meal until 9:30pm – as many do on the mainland – while they stay healthy and avoid weight problems.
The key is simply to have a late breakfast, ideally at 11:30am or later, to hit the 14-hour fast that evidence suggests is achievable for most people and good for metabolism.
But research has now shown that it’s fine to finish eating at 9:30 p.m. if you also have a late breakfast the next day.
In the study, this period of fasting was generally effective for most, regardless of what time in the evening they stopped eating.
The idea that an earlier dinner is healthier is based on very small studies of mostly young people, which, according to Professor Spector, did not take into account fasting periods or breakfast timing.
And these studies show only a small benefit from eating earlier, so he believes the benefits are exaggerated.
Professor Spector, author of the book Food for Life: The New Science of Eating Well, is an advocate of time-restricted eating, which many studies have shown to be beneficial for metabolic health and weight loss.
And in the study, those who ate late and only fasted for 14 hours a day reported having more energy.
Professor Spector suggests that our gut microbes, like us, have a circadian rhythm and need a rest from eating, but that people can decide when to take that rest period depending on their own daily schedules.
He said: ‘People often eat late because of work and kids and they shouldn’t feel guilty about that.
“The most important thing is not to snack in the evening, try not to have an early breakfast, and not to go to bed within two hours of eating.”