Eating breakfast earlier could add years to your life, a new study suggests.
Researchers followed nearly 3,000 adults over three decades and found that the timing of meals — not just what’s eaten — may play a role in longevity. The international team, led by Dr. Hassan Dashti of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, reported its findings in Communications Medicine.
As people age, breakfast and dinner often shift later due to issues like poor sleep, depression, dental problems, or lifestyle changes such as retirement. On average, each decade of life pushed breakfast back by eight minutes and dinner by four.
That delay matters: every additional hour of postponing breakfast was linked to a higher risk of death. In fact, older adults who ate earlier had a 10-year survival rate of nearly 90%, compared with about 87% for late eaters.
While the study was observational and cannot prove cause and effect, researchers say late meals may signal underlying health problems. The work also adds to the field of “chrononutrition,” which examines how meal timing interacts with circadian rhythms and overall health.
“Breakfast may truly be the most important meal of the day — especially for older adults,” Dashti said.
Experts recommend that seniors maintain a regular eating schedule as part of broader healthy-aging strategies.
(Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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