The Best Time to Eat Breakfast For Optimum Health

We’ve all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And while the jury’s still out on whether that’s 100% true—some evidence suggests that as long as you get the nutrients you need throughout the day, having breakfast specifically might not matter—it is true that what we eat for breakfast certainly does impact our metabolism and energy.

And not just that. Having a healthy morning meal has a host of other proven benefits as well. It helps keep blood sugar balanced, leads to less hunger during the day, and may even help you maintain a healthy weight. So, if you do want to take advantage of all the very good reasons to eat your brekkie—which also include reduced risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and obesity—it is definitely worth considering when to eat your first meal of the day.

Choosing the right time to eat breakfast may make all the difference when it comes to having a day of full-on energy, mental clarity, and glittering productivity. And who wouldn’t want that? Read on to learn more about the best time to eat breakfast, no matter your health goals.

The best time to have breakfast for maintaining weightBreakfast literally means to “break the fast” and is usually eaten soon after you wake up—either at home or on-the-go right before work. Depending on your schedule, that might be anywhere between 6:00 am and 8:00 am—first thing!—but there’s some evidence to suggest that the ideal time to have breakfast might actually be a little later, especially if maintaining or losing weight is a priority for you.

This is where the aforementioned “fast” comes in. According to studies—and intermittent fasting devotees—it’s best to allow at least 12 hours of fasting to pass between the previous day’s dinner and breakfast the next morning in order to trigger ketosis in the body and the burning of fat stores instead of glucose for energy. So, if you have dinner at 8:00 pm, then just wait to have breakfast until 8:00 am the next day. It also goes without saying that if you have an early dinner one evening, then breakfast can be earlier too—just as long as you hit the 12 hour fasting mark. And if you have dinner later, then you can just postpone your first meal the next day. It’s flexible!

Passing a window of at least 12 hours of fasting between these meals also helps the intestinal microbiome and its billions of good bacteria function at their best, because it allows them the opportunity to regenerate and rest. This may also help speed up the metabolism and balance body weight.

How late is too late for breakfast?Okay, so if we should wait at least 12 hours between dinner and breakfast—ideally with a great night’s sleep in-between—then is it possible to eat breakfast too late? And what about skipping breakfast all together?

A study published in the National Library of Medicine identified 9:00 am as the latest ideal time to eat breakfast in order to reduce the onset of type 2 diabetes by up to 60%. This is because our metabolism seems to function better first thing in the morning and becomes more resistant to insulin as the day goes on. Insulin is a very important hormone in regulating the presence of sugar in the blood; when we are insulin resistant, our blood sugar levels rise. This can lead to all sorts of unwelcome effects—weight gain and the accumulation of abdominal fat, and, in the long term, even to the onset of diseases like type 2 diabetes. Eating breakfast earlier might help the body metabolize food better.

However, keep in mind your twelve hour fasting window—9:00 am is just a guideline. As mentioned, if you have the occasional late dinner, you can still wait 12 hours before having a light breakfast with your coffee without postponing lunch.

Of course, you might be tempted to just skip breakfast altogether—but that’s probably not a great idea, especially if you ate a late dinner the night before. Research published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that subjects who regularly eat a late dinner and skip breakfast have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack, as well as increased inflammation and oxidative stress. They even went so far as to call the late dinner-no-breakfast situation a “killer” combination. So, go ahead, eat up, and live long.