The rules of optimal metabolism say that it is better to consume the bulk of your kilojoules during the first half of the day. This means that 2pm or 3pm is too late to eat lunch.

From this article:

http://www.dailylife.com.au/health-and-fitness/dl-nutrition/this-is-what-an-ideal-days-eating-looks-like-20130422-2i992.html

Is there any possible scientific theory to back that up?

sibeen said:

The rules of optimal metabolism say that it is better to consume the bulk of your kilojoules during the first half of the day. This means that 2pm or 3pm is too late to eat lunch.

From this article:

http://www.dailylife.com.au/health-and-fitness/dl-nutrition/this-is-what-an-ideal-days-eating-looks-like-20130422-2i992.html

Is there any possible scientific theory to back that up?

There could easily be a scientific theory to back that up, but is there any evidence that backs up the theory?

Yes, I should have worded it betterer :)

The rules of optimal metabolism say that it is better to consume the bulk of your kilojoules during the first half of the day
—

Better for what purpose?

From memory, that is fairly similar to the CSIRO well-being diet, which started life as research about insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.

Is “Optimal Metabolism” in this context getting the most energy out of your food intake or not getting fat???

Could have something to do with cortisol et al, those levels are quite high am and dip in the pm.

http://www.crossfitintrepid.com/2012/04/30/debunk-meal-frequency/

Glance Fleeting said:

http://www.crossfitintrepid.com/2012/04/30/debunk-meal-frequency/

Statements from abstracts…how useful…

*more useful than my guesses though.

What if you wake up at 10am and go to bed at midnight? Is lunch still useful in the middle of the day?

Divine Angel said:

What if you wake up at 10am and go to bed at midnight? Is lunch still useful in the middle of the day?

Interestingly, and annoyingly, not all circadian rhythms will move, and is one of the reasons why shift-workers have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

> What if you wake up at 10am and go to bed at midnight? Is lunch still useful in the middle of the day?

My personal (biased) opinion is that the most important meal of the day is the one you miss. The opinion of Weight Watchers is that the least important meal of the day is the one you eat when you aren’t hungry.

Really folks, it doesn’t matter when you eat. This is true from both a nutrition-mass-balance and an energy-balance perspective.

My body’s circadian rhythm wants to put me on a daily cycle smaller than 24 hours, which interferes somewhat with mealtimes.

mollwollfumble said:

Really folks, it doesn’t matter when you eat. This is true from both a nutrition-mass-balance and an energy-balance perspective.

No. There have been multiple studies showing that distribution of energy intake does matter. In these, everyone ate the same. One group spread it between breakfast, lunch and dinner. The other group spread it between lunch and dinner. Depending on the study, those who had breakfast either lost more weight than the skippers, or gained less weight than the skippers.