Is Eating Breakfast Late Aging You Faster?

Rise and Shine: Breakfast used to be pretty straightforward: You wake up, you eat, you start your day. As intermittent fasting became popular, eating that first meal later became more common. But new research has found those later breakfasts may affect longevity.

The Study: Researchers pulled data from 31,044 adults aged 40 and older in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), comparing participants’ meal times and health outcomes. Later mealtimes corresponded with a higher risk of all-cause mortality. Eating your first meal after noon had a 29% higher risk of all-cause mortality and an estimated 2.46 years shorter life expectancy compared to participants who ate breakfasts between 7 and 8 a.m. Eating after midnight was associated with a 27% higher risk of all-cause mortality and about 2.35 years shorter life expectancy compared to those who ate dinner between 7 and 8 p.m.

The Takeaway: Eating earlier appears to work better with the body’s internal clock, which regulates metabolism and hormones. Eating too late in the day may cause additional strain on the metabolism.

Keep in Mind: The study was observational and found only a correlation between meal times and mortality, not causation. And these findings don’t necessarily contradict research on intermittent fasting. Some studies suggest time-restricted eating can improve metabolic health, but when you eat matters just as much as how long you fast — with earlier eating windows often showing greater benefits than later ones. Researchers also haven’t established that intermittent fasting itself extends lifespan in humans.