Postponing when you eat your first meal of the day might be a sign that it’s time to consult with your healthcare provider, according to recent findings.
Eating in the morning, as implied by the term ‘breakfast,’ is fundamentally crucial for our daily routine.
WebMD notes that having breakfast helps jumpstart our metabolism, providing necessary energy to concentrate at work or school, which is why many regard it as the day’s most vital meal.
However, when the demand for early morning energy decreases, particularly during retirement, it’s common for people to postpone this healthy habit, delaying it later than their usual routine.
The site cautions that omitting the morning meal can disturb the body’s rhythm of fasting and eating. Recent research suggests that delaying breakfast can also be an indicator of poor health and might even adversely affect life expectancy.
In a new study published in Communications Medicine, researchers from Mass General Brigham stated: “Meal timing, particularly later breakfast, shifts with age and may reflect broader health changes in older adults, with implications for morbidity and longevity.”
The study analyzed data from 2,945 adults aged 42 to 94 over two decades, finding that as individuals age, there is a tendency to delay both breakfast and dinner.
Participants experiencing more health issues or possessing a genetic inclination towards staying up late were also found to eat later.
The researchers observed, “Importantly, eating breakfast later with aging was linked to a higher risk of death.”
Lead author Hassan Dashti, PhD, RD, a nutrition scientist and circadian biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, emphasized: “Our research suggests that changes in when older adults eat, especially the timing of breakfast, could serve as an easy-to-monitor marker of their overall health status.”
He further explained that shifts in mealtime routines could be used by patients and clinicians as an early indicator of potential physical and mental health concerns.
Senior author Dr. Altug Didikoglu, MSc, from the Izmir Institute of Technology in Turkey, stated in a press release: “Up until now, we had a limited insight into how the timing of meals evolves later in life and how this shift relates to overall health and longevity.”
Their findings reveal that later meal timing, specifically delayed breakfast, correlates with health challenges and an increased mortality risk in older adults.
The study underscores that breakfast is not only pivotal but holds even greater significance for older adults, emphasizing that the timing of breakfast can be crucial for their health.
The doctor remarked: “These results add new meaning to the saying that ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day,’ especially for older individuals.”