The British journal of nutritionJun 1, 2007

Time of day and balance of carbs, fats, and proteins relate to total daily food intake

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 29, 2026

Abstract

Morning intake of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins is associated with reduced overall daily intake of those macronutrients.

Intake during the morning is particularly satiating and linked to lower total food intake for the day.
Higher energy density of intake at any time is positively related to overall daily intake.
A high proportion of daily carbohydrate intake in the morning correlates with reduced overall daily carbohydrate and food energy intake.
A high proportion of daily fat intake in the morning is associated with decreased overall daily fat and food energy intake.
Conversely, higher evening intake of total food energy, carbohydrates, or fats tends to increase overall daily energy intake.
The relationship between morning intake and reduced total intake appears to be specific to each macronutrient.

Simplified

Intake in the morning is particularly satiating and associated with lower total amounts ingested for the day while intake at night is associated with greater overall daily intake. But, the influence of carbohydrates, fats or proteins ingested at various times of the day is unknown. The intakes of 375 male and 492 female free-living individuals that were acquired with 7 d diet-diary reports were reanalysed. The intakes of carbohydrates, fats and proteins, and the density of intake occurring during three 6 h periods (06.00 to 11.59 hours (morning), 12.00 to 17.59 hours (afternoon) and 18.00 to 23.59 hours (evening)) were identified and related to overall daily and meal intakes. Energy density of intake during all periods was found to be positively related to overall intake. When the proportion of daily carbohydrate ingested in the morning was high, less total food energy and carbohydrate were ingested over the entire day. When the proportion of daily fat ingested in the morning was high, less total food energy and carbohydrate and fat were ingested over the entire day. When the proportion of daily protein ingested in the morning was high, less protein was ingested over the entire day. Conversely, when intake was relatively high in the evening of either total food energy, carbohydrate or fat, then overall daily energy intakes tended to be higher. The results suggest that the morning intake association with reduced total intake is macronutrient specific, with morning carbohydrate, fat and protein intake associated with reduced daily carbohydrate, fat and protein intake, respectively.

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Time of day and balance of carbs, fats, and proteins relate to total daily food intake

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