{"id":225822,"date":"2025-10-15T05:51:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T05:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/225822\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T05:51:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T05:51:06","slug":"this-is-the-healthiest-time-to-eat-dinner-and-its-earlier-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/225822\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is the Healthiest Time to Eat Dinner (and It\u2019s Earlier Than You Think)"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a long day of work and errands, planning dinner<\/a> can be a drag. This is especially true if you\u2019re a busy bee, or your schedule is constantly changing. As a result, you might find yourself eating dinner at a different time each day\u2014but does it actually matter? Here, dietitians share the best time to eat dinner, and whether it\u2019s possible to eat the meal too late\u2014or too early.<\/p>\n

The Best Time to Eat Dinner <\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, the ideal time to eat dinner is between 5 to 7 p.m.,\u201d says Marissa (Meshulam) Karp, MS, RD, CDN. If that doesn\u2019t work for your schedule, you should aim to eat dinner about three hours before heading to bed<\/a>. This will \u201callow for proper digestion and decrease your risk of reflux,\u201d explains Elizabeth Brown, MS, RDN, CPT.
<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s worth noting that the optimal time also depends on the size and composition of your meal, notes Brown. For example, \u201ca very high fat meal such as a double burger and large fries can take six hours or longer to digest,\u201d she explains. This can increase stomach acid, leading to pressure on the stomach and esophagus, potentially causing reflux and disrupting your ability to sleep<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

Can You Eat Dinner Too Early or Too Late? <\/p>\n

When you consider the effect food has on sleep<\/a>, it\u2019s certainly possible to eat dinner too early or too late. If you have an early dinner<\/a>\u2014around 3 p.m., for instance\u2014you might struggle with falling asleep<\/a> because you\u2019re so hungry, shares Karp. In this case, you\u2019ll want to eat a light snack<\/a>, preferably one that contains a balanced mix of carbohydrates<\/a>, protein<\/a>, and some fat. The carbohydrates are especially important here, as they\u2019ll \u201cstimulate the release of serotonin, which is the precursor to melatonin,\u201d says Brown.\n<\/p>\n

In contrast, if you wait too long to eat dinner, you\u2019ll also experience sleep troubles. That\u2019s because the parts of the body that normally digest food take a break during sleep, explains Karp. \u201cBut if we\u2019re eating close to bedtime, we don\u2019t give our bodies that time to properly digest,\u201d she says. In turn, the body attempts to sleep and digest food at the same time, making it difficult to snooze comfortably.<\/p>\n

But what if you tend to work until late at night? In this case, try eating consistently earlier on in the day, suggests Karp. Otherwise, you\u2019ll be starving by dinnertime, making it tempting to eat too much or make less nutritious choices at dinner. To prevent this, \u201cfocus on a filling meal with protein, fat, and fiber<\/a> earlier in the day,\u201d says Karp. You can also chow down on satiating midday snacks, like apples with peanut butter, to hold you over until dinner.\n<\/p>\n

Should You Eat Dinner at the Same Time Every Day? <\/p>\n

The body does well with routine, so having a typical window for dinner will benefit your circadian rhythm<\/a> (i.e., internal body clock), notes Karp. In fact, food is one of the top environmental cues\u2014or zeitgebers\u2014that synchronize the body\u2019s clock, according to the journal Frontiers in Nutrition<\/a>. (The main zeitgeber is light, in case you\u2019re wondering.) This is crucial for overall health, as misaligning your internal clock<\/a> can disrupt metabolic processes, increasing the risk of metabolic disorders like diabetes<\/a> and heart disease<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re having a hard time eating dinner on a regular schedule, there are some things you can do to make it easier. Start by incorporating meal prep<\/a> into your routine, which will ensure you have ready-made food on hand each night. It will also eliminate decision-making<\/a> during dinnertime, so you won\u2019t have to think about gathering ingredients and cooking food.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a long day of work and errands, planning dinner can be a drag. This is especially true…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[97,269],"class_list":{"0":"post-225822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}