What is the ideal time for dinner?

For ordinary people, dinner time rings in sync with the rumbling of the stomach, like the green light that signals hunger. The time slot then varies depending on the individual. There are those who have dinner English style around 6pm or Spanish style between 9pm and 10.30pm, night owls who open their fridge after 11pm. So which of these eaters is correct?

Not too late…

According to nutritionist and nutritionist Hanna Bensemhun, there is no ideal time to sit down in the evening. In fact, regardless of the time, it’s especially important to leave this meal past bedtime, “at least 3 hours before bed,” he notes. “Calories ingested must be digested, and if we don’t wait long enough for them to be absorbed, the body will continue to burn energy at rest. This activity risks disrupting our sleep and making it less restorative,” explains the specialist.

Not to mention that the digestive work increases the body temperature. However, to get deep sleep, we need to lower our temperature, Gilles Mithieux, director of Diabetes and the Brain at the Inserm Nutrition Laboratory, told us in a previous article.

Be careful, though, don’t beat yourself up if you eat dinner too late one night. If this is the case, and you went to have dinner in a restaurant, for example, a dietitian nutritionist recommends walking after eating, to expend energy and thereby improve digestion.

…Not too soon

Eating dinner too early is also not a good idea. “If the time between dinner and bedtime is too long, you may feel hungry before going to bed,” warns Hannah Bensemhun. In this case, either you sleep on an empty stomach, and that feeling will be uncomfortable for sleeping, or you eat a snack, which is harmful to the body.

If the time between meals and bedtime is too long, hunger can be felt before bedtime

Hannah Bensemhou, dietician, nutritionist

And what do we put on the plate? The saying goes that you breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper. Hannah Bensemhoun puts this preconceived notion aside. According to the nutritionist, you can eat the same thing at lunchtime as in the evening. “It’s important to maintain a balanced plate with protein intake for muscle mass, vegetables, fiber sources to regulate satiety, and starchy foods to maintain blood sugar levels throughout the night,” explains the nutritionist.

This fall season, the pro offers an example of an ideal evening menu: pumpkin and coconut milk soup with tuna and cream cheese toast. And what about the quantities? “It should be adjusted according to the amount of physical activity you do or don’t do during the day,” advises Hannah Bensemhoun.