Scientists find a link between what time you eat breakfast and an early death

Eating breakfast is a great way to start the day but a recent study has found there may be a link between the time you have your first meal and dying earlier.

Now, before you start panicking, eating breakfast at 11:59 a.m or later doesn’t mean your days are numbered, the same way that having it at 4 a.m. doesn’t guarantee you’ll live forever.

But with that said, a study looking at adults eating habits and their overall health over decades has revealed curious data.

The long-term study was conducted by an international team of researchers, according to a science alert report, and highlighted the link between eating breakfast later in the day and a greater chance of an early death among elderly people,

So if you enjoy a late bowl of cereal, no need to worry.

The study found people eat breakfast later as they age (Getty Stock Image)

The data was from just under 3,000 adults who were living in Newcastle and Manchester in the UK and were collected between 1983 and 2017.

The participants were aged between 42 and 94 when they signed up, and information was collected through optional questionnaires on their health, lifestyle, and eating habits. It found that those involved in the study tended to eat breakfast and dinner later in the day as they aged. These later eating times were then linked to poorer physical and mental health.

The researchers found a significant link between eating breakfast later and a higher mortality risk, in regard to dying for any reason. In simple terms, for each hour later that breakfast was taken, the chance of dying during the study period went up 8-11 percent.

Nutrition scientist Hassasn Dashti, from Harvard Medical School, was involved in the study and commented on the findings.

He said: “Our research suggests that changes in when older adults eat, especially the timing of breakfast, could serve as an easy-to-monitor marker of their overall health status.”

It is important to reiterate, that while there is a link, it is not necessarily cause and effect, despite there being truth to the fact that our bodies react differently depending on when we eat.

The reason for eating later can be tied to physical and mental health difficulties according to the researchers(Getty Stock Image)

The researchers suggested the relationship is likely driven by the fact that as people get older a greater number of health problems increase in frequency and severity. As this happens, it can lead to simple things like trouble leading, difficulty getting up and a loss of appetite.

On the mental side of things, tasks like making breakfast can take longer and be more taxing.

Dashti added: “Up until now, we had a limited insight into how the timing of meals evolves later in life and how this shift relates to overall health and longevity

“Our findings help fill that gap by showing that later meal timing, especially delayed breakfast, is tied to both health challenges and increased mortality risk in older adults."