Studies consistently find that people who eat later at night are more likely to binge on junk food and gain weight, and that they are at higher risk for being overweight or obese, which in turn leads to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

It was assumed that this weight gain occurred because when the body went into sleep mode, it used fewer calories. But it is increasingly being recognized that our culture of late-night eating, drinking, and inconsistent sleep patterns is indicative of a disruption in our body clocks.

This means that it’s not only the quantity of food we eat that counts, but also when we eat it.

For instance, one study examined overweight and obese women who were put on a weight-loss diet for three months.

The results showed that those who consumed most of their calories at breakfast lost two and a half times more weight than those who had a light breakfast and ate most of their calories at dinner — even though they consumed the same number of calories overall.