Just like diet itself, the timing of our meals can influence mortality risk, according to a new study.
- The rhythm of “three meals a day” dates from the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century and the need to meet the nutritional needs of workers.
- According to a recent study, eating only when your body is hungry would also be beneficial for your health. And it is absolutely necessary to avoid nibbling
Regularity and frequency of meals, intervals between food intakes… In the same way as the content of our plate, which must be healthy to stay healthy, the rhythm at which we eat during the day would be decisive for our life expectancy. . This is the finding of a new study conducted by researchers from several American universities and published in the Journal of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Skipping a meal increases the risk of death
As part of their hypothesis, the scientists analyzed data from a cohort of more than 24,000 American adults aged 40 and over who participated in a large National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2014. Among them, there were 4,175 deaths over the given period. To determine the impact of the “timing” of meals on health, they readjusted their calculations taking into account dietary and lifestyle factors (physical activity, quality of food, substance intake, etc.). And for good reason, people who ate less than three meals a day (about 40% of respondents) have certain common traits: young, male, less educated and more modest, they consume alcohol and tobacco, eat less nutritious food , more snacks and have less energy intake in general, or even are food insecure.
As a result, it turns out that eating a single meal a day, for example, can increase the risk of death in adults aged 40 and over. Skipping breakfast is associated with a risk of developing fatal cardiovascular disease, and skipping lunch or dinner with higher all-cause mortality. Even people who eat three meals a day are concerned: eating two consecutive meals less than 4.5 hours apart would put your health at greater risk. “Based on these results, we recommend eating at least two to three meals spread throughout the day”says researcher Yangbo Sun, lead author of the study.
Excessive energy load
How to explain the link between food rhythm and health? This is “metabolic”explain the scientists. “Skipping meals generally means ingesting a greater energy load at the same time, which can compound the burden of regulating glucose metabolism and lead to further metabolic deterioration”can we read in a communicated. “It may also explain the association between a shorter meal interval and mortality, since a shorter time between meals would lead to a greater energy load during the given period.”
