What, How Much and When Do You Eat?

Healthy eating is not only about what ends up on the plate. New nutrition research is asking three questions: what do you eat, how much do you eat, and when do you eat it?

A new French study, reported by Le Monde and based on data from more than 100,000 people tracked for over 14 years, suggests that irregular mealtimes may also affect heart health. Researchers call the shifts between weekday and weekend eating schedules “eating jet lag.” A breakfast at 7 a.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. on weekends, or dinner at 7 p.m. one day and 11 p.m. the next, can create this kind of timing disruption.

The article explains that the liver, pancreas, intestines and fat tissue each have biological clocks. Daylight sets the brain’s main clock, while meal timing helps regulate the clocks of metabolic organs. In the study, every additional hour of difference between weekday and holiday mealtimes was associated with a 21% increase in coronary heart disease risk and a 14% increase in overall cardiovascular risk among men. The researchers found no statistically significant association among women, which the article says could relate to biological differences, lower exposure to night-shift work or the strength of the sample.

The study is observational, so it cannot show that irregular mealtimes alone cause heart disease. Its warning is more measured: the relationship between the body’s biological clock and eating patterns deserves serious attention. The article recommends eating mostly real foods, including vegetables, legumes, whole grains, quality protein, olive oil, nuts and fiber, while avoiding both overeating and large timing shifts. It suggests finishing dinner about three hours before sleep and keeping meals at broadly similar times, even on weekends. A yogurt mixture with turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, ground grape seed, black pepper and olive oil is also discussed, although calling it a “miracle” is described as an overstatement.