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Meal TimingEvidence & Dosage

Circadian eating, early vs. late meals, nutrient timing.

Evidence at a glance

Total studies
344
With abstract
49
Meta / Systematic / RCT
3
Highly cited
49
Publication years
1976–2026

Meal Timing in the context of Methods

This topic is part of our "Methods" world. There you'll find methodology, evidence and the highest-impact levers — plus the order in which they sensibly build on each other.

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Top studies on Meal Timing

Ranked by influential-citation count and publication year.

  1. Association between eating patterns and obesity in a free-living US adult population.

    American journal of epidemiology2003n=499121 influential citations

    Some studies have suggested that eating patterns, which describe eating frequency, the temporal distribution of eating events across the day, breakfast skipping, and the frequency of eating meals away from home, may be related to obesity.…

  2. Effects of daily hassles and eating style on eating behavior.

    Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association2008n=422111 influential citations

    <h4>Objective</h4>This study investigated the daily hassles-eating behavior relationship and its moderators in a naturalistic setting.<h4>Design</h4>A multilevel diary design was used to examine day-to-day within-person effects of daily…

  3. Number of 24-hour diet recalls needed to estimate energy intake.

    Annals of epidemiology2009n=52488 influential citations

    <h4>Purpose</h4>Twenty-four-hour diet recall interviews (24HRs) are used to assess diet and to validate other diet assessment instruments. Therefore it is important to know how many 24HRs are required to describe an individual's…

  4. Circadian modulation of glucose and insulin responses to meals: relationship to cortisol rhythm.

    The American journal of physiology199270 influential citations

    To determine whether glucose and insulin responses to a mixed meal are influenced by time of day irrespective of duration of prior fast, eight normal subjects (4 males, 4 females) were studied on two separate occasions, involving ingestion…

  5. The time of day of food intake influences overall intake in humans.

    The Journal of nutrition200466 influential citations

    Circadian and diurnal rhythms affect food intake, and earlier research has suggested that meal sizes increase, whereas the after-meal intervals and satiety ratios decrease over the day. We hypothesized that the time of day of food intake…

  6. Including indigestible carbohydrates in the evening meal of healthy subjects improves glucose tolerance, lowers inflammatory markers, and increases satiety after a subsequent standardized breakfast.

    The Journal of nutrition2008n=1562 influential citations

    Low-glycemic index (GI) foods and foods rich in whole grain are associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We studied the effect of cereal-based bread evening meals (50 g available starch), varying in GI…

  7. Eating slowly increases the postprandial response of the anorexigenic gut hormones, peptide YY and glucagon-like peptide-1.

    The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism201055 influential citations

    <h4>Context</h4>The rate at which people eat has been suggested to be positively associated with obesity, although appetite and related gut hormones have not been measured. The objective of the study was to determine whether eating the…

  8. Is the timing of caloric intake associated with variation in diet-induced thermogenesis and in the metabolic pattern? A randomized cross-over study.

    International journal of obesity (2005)201552 influential citations

    <h4>Background/objectives</h4>Food-induced thermogenesis is generally reported to be higher in the morning, although contrasting results exist because of differences in experimental settings related to the preceding fasting, exercise,…

  9. Weekend-weekday differences in diet among U.S. adults, 2003-2012.

    Annals of epidemiology2016n=11,64650 influential citations

    <h4>Purpose</h4>Dietary patterns differ by day of the week. This study examined weekend-weekday differences in diet among U.S. adults.<h4>Methods</h4>Nationally representative data of 11,646 adults 18 years of age and above from the…

  10. Exploring circadian and meal timing impacts on cortisol during simulated night shifts.

    Sleep202650 influential citations

    <h4>Study objectives</h4>Cortisol regulates various physiological systems and exhibits a circadian rhythm influenced by sleep-wake and light-dark cycles. The cumulative effects of consecutive night shifts and nighttime eating on cortisol…

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