Meal Timing for Metabolic Health
An early dinner could benefit glycemic control.
In recent years there has been a spate of research showing that meal timing may play a role in certain metabolic health measures. Here’s another exempli gratia.
A small study in Nutrients involving 12 adults found that adults who ate dinner at 6 p.m. experienced improved 24-hour blood glucose levels on day 2 of the 3-day feeding trial compared with when they ate dinner at 9 p.m. Worth noting is that the early dinner group exhibited a lower respiratory quotient after breakfast and increased fat oxidation, as measured using an indirect calorimetry method on the morning of day 3, compared with the late dinner trial.
While we need to see a larger sample size and testing period to advance this meal timing concept, it makes you wonder if people who show up earlier to the dinner table are taking a step towards better metabolic health.
See also: Why Those With Type 2 Diabetes Should Walk After Dinner
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD, is a James Beard Award–winning food journalist, dietitian and author of the cookbook Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sport + Adventure (VeloPress 2016). He has written for dozens of magazines, including Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Muscle and Fitness.
