Regular eating patterns and planning the timing and frequency of meals are behaviors that may lead to a healthier lifestyle and reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, according to a new scientific statement published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

Share on Pinterest Regularly eating breakfast and consuming most calories earlier in the day are eating patterns that may help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The new statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) provides an overview of current scientific evidence suggesting that when and how often individuals eat may affect their risk factors for heart attack and stroke, as well as other cardiac and blood vessel conditions.

Research has shown that adult behavioral patterns of eating meals and snacks have changed over the past 40 years in the United States.

For women, there has been a reduction in energy intake from meals, from 82 percent to 77 percent, and an increase in energy intake from snacks, from 18 percent to 23 percent. Similar trends have been reported in men.

The tendency to eat three standard meals per day has also declined in both men and women. People in the U.S. now have a habit of eating around the clock rather than sticking to certain meal times.

“Meal timing may affect health due to its impact on the body’s internal clock,” says Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Ph.D., writing group chair, and an associate professor of nutritional medicine at Columbia University in New York City.

“In animal studies, it appears that when animals receive food while in an inactive phase, such as when they are sleeping, their internal clocks are reset in a way that can alter nutrient metabolism, resulting in greater weight gain, insulin resistance, and inflammation,” St-Onge explains. “However, more research would need to be done in humans before that can be stated as a fact,” she adds.