Eat breakfast early, lunch early, and dinner even earlier so that you finish your last meal by 2pm.
That's the conclusion of a small new study, which found not all calories are equal and when you consume them makes a difference too.
Researchers from Pennington Biomedical Research Centre followed 11 participants and had them eat all their meals before 2pm. On a separate occasion they had the same participants eat the same meals, with the same calories, between 8am and 8pm.
They found that eating before 2pm reduced hunger swings and increased fat burning at night. It also improved metabolic flexibility, which is the body's ability to switch between burning carbs and fats.
"Eating only during a much smaller window of time than people are typically used to may help with weight loss," said Courtney Peterson, PhD, who led the study at Pennington Biomedical Research Centre. "We found that eating between 8am and 2pm followed by an 18-hour daily fast kept appetite levels more even throughout the day, in comparison to eating between 8am and 8pm."
The results may be because the earlier eating times aligned with the circadian rhythm, the researchers hyopthesised.
"We know your best blood sugar control is in the morning," Peterson told TODAY. "We also know that when you eat food, the energy it takes to digest it is a little higher in the morning."
While the results are interesting, we shouldn't start cramming our food in, advises accredited practising dietitian Melanie McGrice.
"The study is very small, based on only 11 people, so it's not enough to convince me that we shouldn't eat after 2pm," says McGrice, owner of Nutrition Plus. "However, I agree that the timing of our meals does have a significant impact on our weight.
"As a clinical dietitian in private practice, I often get great results just by modifying the timing of my clients' meals, without needing to alter their actual dietary intake much. The timing of our meals impacts our hormonal balance and metabolism so is very important."
McGrice says she typically advises clients to eat every three to five hours when ghrelin, the "hunger" or appetite-increasing hormone, is naturally produced.
"I also agree that the old saying 'eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper' has merit," she says.
Might it have merit for the intermittent fasting overnight? Intermittent fasting involves daily 16-hour fasts, or fasting for 24 hours, twice a week. Research has found it might have benefits for our bodies and brains.
"Intermittent fasting can be beneficial for weight and health, as long as people are still meeting their nutritional requirements," McGrice says. "Most of the research undertaken on intermittent fasting uses nutritionally complete meal replacements on the low kilojoule (or "fasting" days)."
She adds: The idea is to replicate the environment of hunter/gatherers whereby there are some days of scarcity and others of greater intakes, as opposed to our current culture where every day is a day of abundance.
"I haven't tried a diet whereby people stop eating after 2pm in my practice, however, I envision that most people in the Australian culture would find a diet like this very difficult to abide by, as the evening meal is usually the meal that we share with family and/or friends. Although nutrition is important, food is more than just nutrients; it's also about socialising with our loved ones."