Eating a Late Breakfast May Be Linked to Shorter Lifespans

We've all been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It always seemed like that saying was in regard to starting the day off on the right foot, and eating a filling and wholesome meal before you headed off to work, school, or leisure.

However, a study out of Mass General Brigham seems to have another take on the popular mantra, and it's not so much what you're eating, but when you're eating it that makes the difference.

That's because they claim that their research uncovered a link between eating a late breakfast and having a shorter life.

Of course, their study included a bunch of other factors that are important to keep in mind, but it sounds like there is some correlation between those who eat their first meal of the day earlier and those who have shorter lifespans.

What's the connection? You'll have to keep reading to learn everything included in the study's findings.

As we said, Mass General Brigham researchers released a study that shows that people who ate breakfast later in the day had an increased risk of a number of health concerns, including premature death. They made this conclusion after following 2,945 adults between the ages of 42 to 94 for 20 years.

During that time, they tracked different data points, including lifestyle, meal timing, health outcomes, and even the results of routine bloodwork.

What they discovered was that people started eating later in the day as they got older, which was carried across both breakfast and dinner mealtimes.

According to the findings, the change in mealtimes could either signal or influence health outcomes in older populations. In short, eating later meals could be a sign of an underlying condition, or it could cause existing underlying conditions to worsen. This led the study's writers to suggest that changing mealtimes could be a warning sign.

The next question on everyone's mind is likely, "What can you do to fix this?"

"For this population, maintaining regular and consistent meal times may be more supportive of better health and aging, but more research is needed to support this hypothesis," the study's author told Newsweek. That may mean either getting up earlier so that you can eat your breakfast at a more reasonable time or creating a reminder to ensure that you're eating early, whether you're hungry or not.

Of course, the study also found that there are other things that can influence the findings of this study, and getting to the breakfast table isn't the only thing at play.

Overall lifestyle choices and genetics can both make a difference in your health outcomes. Still, the study's author says that he believes that using meal timing as a strategic tool could help improve life expectancies and maybe even promote healthy aging in certain adults, making it something worth further research.