The Best Time to Eat Dinner for Better Digestion and Sleep

When you eat may be just as important as what you eat. Research shows that eating dinner in sync with your circadian rhythm (the body's internal clock) can improve digestion, metabolism, and sleep quality.

When Is the Best Time to Eat Dinner?

The circadian rhythm is the "biological clock" that helps coordinate the timing of daily behaviors such as:

• Sleeping and waking

• Feeding and fasting

• Physiology (such as hormone release and heart function)

Melatonin is the hormone that regulates your body's circadian rhythm.

The best time to eat dinner is more related to an individual's personal circadian rhythm rather than external timing measured by the clock:

• Consider your biological night: Your "biological night" begins when your body starts producing melatonin, shifting your body into night mode and starting to make you sleepy. Studies have found that for some people, this could be early (such as 7:00 p.m.), while for others it could be much later (such as 1:00 a.m.).

• Eating too late can interfere with blood sugar: Melatonin is a hormone that regulates the sleep/wake cycle. Because melatonin reduces insulin release, eating late at night when your melatonin levels are high can cause higher blood sugar spikes than if eating earlier in the day.

• Coordinate your eating and sleep patterns: Aim to finish dinner at least two to three hours before you go to bed. Some experts suggest finishing eating at least four hours before bedtime, because it takes about four hours to digest food properly. Conversely, it is recommended to eat breakfast one to two hours after waking up.

How Eating Affects Your Circadian Rhythm

Your health can be negatively affected when your environment (and behaviors) and your circadian rhythm are misaligned. If you are eating when your body expects you to be sleeping or resting, it can disrupt your system.

Keeping a regular, consistent eating pattern helps:

• Regulate your body's melatonin and circadian rhythm. Disruptions in the circadian rhythm have been associated with an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

• Reduce intense feelings of hunger and accompanying symptoms, such as mood swings.

• Meet energy and nutritional needs and support proper digestion.

Tips for Eating In Sync With Your Internal Clock

A recommended regular eating pattern may look like:

• Eat breakfast every day, preferably an hour or two after you wake up.

• Aim to eat lunch about four to five hours after breakfast.

• Eat dinner at least two to four hours before you go to bed.

• If needed, eat a snack that includes a mix of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats between breakfast and lunch and/or between lunch and dinner, but not after dinner.

Some tips to keep in mind include:

• Your hunger levels will be affected by your habits.

• Eat breakfast within 1-2 hours of waking to help establish daily hunger cues.

• You may not be hungry for breakfast or lunch, but establishing a pattern of eating during those times will change your body's hunger cues, making you more ready for food earlier in the day and less likely to overeat at the end of the day.

• Aim to eat within a 12-hour or less window, with the bulk of your calories eaten during the earlier part of the day, and avoid eating close to bedtime or very early in the morning.

• Try not to go more than four hours without eating within the eating window, and don't ignore your hunger cues regardless of when you last ate.

• Adjust your portion sizes to your hunger rather than changing your eating patterns.