Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper

Ever wondered why some ancient wisdom seems to hold up even today? Take the medieval proverb, “Have breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” It turns out this old adage might be onto something significant for our health.

Ancient wisdom meets modern science

In ancient China, Dr Cao Tingdong of the Qing dynasty penned a treatise titled “Common Saying on Gerontology,” where he emphasized the importance of meal timing. According to Cao, “Yang Qi is high in the morning and deficient at sunset; therefore, enough food should be consumed for breakfast and less for dinner. At night, the stomach should be kept completely empty.” This advice was particularly targeted to the elderly, suggesting they should eat very little at dinner. Essentially, Cao was advocating for a form of time-restricted feeding long before it became a trendy topic in modern nutrition. 

The sixth of the eight Buddhist Precepts requires monks to abstain from eating after lunchtime. It recommends that lay-people do the same. In accordance with the rule dictated by the Buddha, we should ingest foods only during the period from sunrise to the moment when the sun reaches its zenith in the sky.

Scientific support for early eating

Fast forward to contemporary times, and a fascinating study from Israel backs up this ancient wisdom. The study focused on obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The participants were divided into two groups: one group consumed most of their calories in the early part of the day (980 kcal for breakfast, 640 kcal for lunch, and 190 kcal for dinner), while the other group had their largest meal in the evening (190 kcal for breakfast, 640 kcal for lunch, and 980 kcal for dinner).

The results were striking. The women who ate the bulk of their calories earlier in the day lost more weight and saw improvements in blood glucose levels, glucose tolerance, and plasma testosterone levels compared to those who ate more in the evening (Jakubowicz D et al. 2013 Obesity; Jakubowicz D et al. 2013 Clin Sci Lond). This suggests that beginning your day with a hearty breakfast, followed by a good lunch, and ending with a light, early dinner could be beneficial for health.