The Exact Time of Day To Eat Breakfast if You Want To Lower Your Blood Pressure
Breakfast options on a table
Does what time you eat actually matter when it comes to your health? New scientific research is suggesting that it does. Published in the journal Nutrients, researchers analyzed several past studies focusing on time-restricted eating (also known as intermittent fasting) and healthy weight loss. They not only investigated whether there was a connection between intermittent fasting and health, but also compared the effects of different eating windows.
The researchers found that people who had an earlier eating window—eating breakfast before 11 a.m. and stopping eating earlier—lowered blood pressure while also leading to more weight loss. Why is this? Keep reading to find out.
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Why Eating an Early Breakfast Could Benefit Your Health
When making the connection between eating breakfast before 11 a.m. and health, it’s important to note that the individuals who saw a benefit from this were also following a timed-restricted eating schedule as well as reducing the amount of calories they consumed. This means that they didn’t just eat breakfast before 11 a.m. and continued eating late into the evening; they also stopped eating earlier than other individuals who were practicing time-restricted eating.
Dr. Maria Teresa Anton, MD, an endocrinologist and educator at Pritikin Longevity Center, says that the combination of calorie reduction and sticking to a timed eating window can particularly be beneficial for people with obesity. “People with obesity can greatly benefit from body weight reduction, leading to improved cardiovascular outcomes and reduced risks of conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure,” she says. To this point, losing weight leads to lower blood pressure, which benefits heart health.
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Still, it’s interesting that having an earlier eating window seems to be better for health than eating the same amount of calories later in the day. According to Dr. Anton, the reason why eating earlier is theorized to have led to more weight loss and reduced blood pressure is because it may work better with the body’s circadian rhythm, which impacts the body’s metabolic efficiency.
Past scientific research has shown a direct link between circadian rhythm (physical, mental and behavioral changes one experiences in a 24-hour cycle) and metabolism. For example, not getting enough sleep is one way that the circadian rhythm can be disrupted, which can slow down metabolism. Similarly, science has shown that eating out of alignment with the circadian rhythm can also slow metabolism. Dr. Anton explains that according to the new research, the theory is that an earlier window is best aligned with circadian rhythm, which is why it may lead to both lower blood pressure and more weight loss.
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How To Get the Most Health Benefits Out of Time-Restricted Eating
If you want to try time-restricted eating to better your health, Dr. Anton has a few tips for getting the absolute most out of it. The first one is that as the new research shows, an earlier eating window may be most beneficial. Dr. Anton recommends eating breakfast before 11 a.m. and ending your eating window around 5:30. Of course, this is not feasible for everyone. For example, maybe your work schedule or the time you eat dinner with your family makes this impossible. Dr. Anton says it’s important to be realistic about what your eating window can be. Otherwise, you won’t stick with it. She emphasizes that having a sustainable eating window is what’s most important.
Second, she says it’s important to note that having a restricted eating window alone won’t guarantee weight loss or lower blood pressure; it’s also important to maintain a calorie deficit—something else the new research shows. To this point, someone who is following a restricted eating window but eating high-calorie junk food will likely experience fewer health benefits than someone who eats lower-calorie, nutrient-rich foods but does not have a restricted eating window.
Of course, what you’re eating is important too. Maintaining a balanced, nutrient-rich diet is key for both heart health and healthy weight loss. As for that all-important first meal of the day? “I recommend [starting] the day with a low-carbohydrate, protein-rich breakfast,” Dr. Anton says. “This will help to keep you more satiated, prevent a blood glucose spike and prevent snacking or overeating later in the day.” She says that some examples include a vegetable egg white omelet, a non-fat Greek yogurt parfait, a cottage cheese bowl, or lettuce wraps with turkey and avocado.
Dr. Anton says that exercising regularly and staying hydrated are also important for both healthy weight loss and heart health. Additionally, she says that patients on blood glucose-lowering medication should be cautious with intermittent fasting as this may produce hypoglycemia in some individuals.
While scientific research does support eating in alignment with one’s circadian rhythm, the tried-and-true rules of healthy eating you’ve surely long heard still ring true. Focus on eating nutrient-rich foods and minimizing ultra-processed ones. If you have obesity, maintaining a calorie deficit can lead to healthy weight loss and, in turn, benefit your heart.
Eating an early breakfast may work in your favor, but only when it’s incorporated with the other health rules that have long been shown to be true.
Next up, check out these seven ways to lower blood pressure quickly.
Sources
Dr. Maria Teresa Anton, MD, endocrinologist and educator at Pritikin Longevity Center
Effect of weight loss on blood pressure changes in overweight patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Clinical Hypertension.
Circadian Rhythms. National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Interactions between sleep, stress, and metabolism: From physiological to pathological conditions. Sleep Science.
Circadian Rhythms, Metabolism, and Chrononutrition in Rodents and Humans. Advances in Nutrition.
Optimal Diet Strategies for Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance. Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome.
