Irregular eating pattern can make you ill

For many, meals happen at random times. One night, you’re standing over the sink scarfing down takeout. The next, you join friends for dinner and share small plates.

While an erratic eating schedule seems harmless, two new studies that examined the timing of meals found that when you eat might be almost as important as what you eat.

“Eating irregularly is linked to a higher risk of metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, and obesity),” Gerda Pot, visiting lecturer in the diabetes and nutritional sciences division at King’s College London, told TODAY via email.

“We found that adults consuming calories during regular meals, i.e. at similar times from one day to a next, were less obese than people who have irregular meals.”