By John Hand –
Everyone eats in a different and constantly evolving way. Eating patterns, in fact, can change day-to-day, month-to-month and even year-to-year. And these changes have been happening for quite a while—and they are probably contributing to America’s collective poor health.
One 2015 study revealed that over a 40-year span, the percentage of men who ate three square meals a day declined from 73 percent to 59 percent. The percentage of women who consumed three standard meals also dropped during this time, falling from 75 percent to 63 percent. These declines can be attributed to a myriad of factors, including hectic schedules, increased snacking and different eating patterns between weekdays and weekends.
What’s amazing is that while more people seemingly go to great lengths to maintain a healthy body, they often overlook the impact of when food is consumed, which is known as choronutrition. A newer area of nutritional research, chrononutrition studies are starting to show that it matters not just what people eat but when they chow down.
Coming to grips with chrononutrition requires developing a working knowledge of circadian rhythms. These rhythms represent the body’s internal clock and help to control everything from when people are most alert to when they’re hungry and their hormones should be released.
The key to health is knowing that the body operates at its best when its circadian rhythm follows a pattern. For example, if an apple is consumed daily at 9:00 a.m., the body knows to expect the nutrients from an apple every morning.
External factors also dictate signals the circadian rhythm sends to the body. When it is dark outside, the body is told it is time to rest. This contributes to the need to set optimal eating patterns because the body can digest food better when it is signaled to be active during the day.
Studies are increasingly underscoring the multiple health benefits of listening to the circadian rhythm and establishing consistent eating patterns.
Following consistent eating patterns can, among other things, decrease the risk of diabetes, lower the chances of heart disease and improve overall metabolism. One study found that mice who ate when they were supposed to be sleeping gained more weight than mice who were fed at normal times. More recent studies on humans have shown similar results. Spanish researchers, for example, discovered after observing more than 400 people that people who ate lunch before 3:00 p.m. gained less weight than those who ate lunch late.
A more recent study of police officers who worked overnight shifts found that they were at higher risk of gaining weight, developing diabetes and getting cardiovascular disease than officers who worked daytime shifts. These increased dangers were attributed to disruptions in circadian rhythms caused by a lack of consistent sleeping and eating patterns.
Correcting these sleeping patterns would be difficult due to the nature of police work. However, food consumption times could be changed, which would help alleviate some of the negative consequences.
“Importantly we observed a series of dietary patterns that implicate food timing rather than its quantity or composition as the differentiating nutritional factor hypothesized to affect metabolic health during different work shifts,” the study concluded.
Yet another study reported in a similar vein that shift workers had higher glucose levels from eating at irregular times. The increased levels can lead to obesity and diabetes.
The optimal goal of an eating schedule is to eat earlier in the day and shorten the timeframe between the first meal and the last meal. Under this framework, breakfast should be consumed within the first few hours of waking up. Research also suggests that having a higher-caloric breakfast and a lesser-caloric dinner can lead to weight loss.
Ultimately, establishing eating patterns during the day is critically important because light—along with exercise—supports digestion and the lowering of glucose levels. An early breakfast should be followed four to five hours later with lunch. Dinner, in turn, is best consumed earlier in the evening, usually four to five hours after lunch.
Researchers are quick to note that establishing consistent eating patterns must also be supported by eating well. This equates to a balanced diet with the proper amount of protein, carbohydrates and sugars.
