What Happens When You Skip Dinner?
Whenever you eat — or don’t eat — it triggers a series of reactions in your body. Even small shifts in regular mealtimes can impair your ability to regulate your appetite because varying a daily eating routine disrupts circadian rhythms, the 24-hour cycle that governs many bodily functions, according to a review published in August 2021 in the journal Current Opinion in Biotechnology.
Over the long term, skipping meals regularly can have a negative impact on your health. Eating just one meal a day was linked to a higher mortality risk, and skipping lunch or dinner specifically increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a study published in March 2023 in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
In the short term, skipping dinner can lead to fluctuations in blood sugar that can leave you feeling shaky or lacking energy. “It can make your body feel more stressed. It can make it harder to sleep,” says Lena Beal, RDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. For people with diabetes, episodes of high or low blood sugar brought on by skipping can be dangerous, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Those without diabetes or other health problems should be able to get away with skipping dinner once in a while without any negative consequences. It may even be better to skip dinner if you haven’t had an evening meal and it’s gotten late. “I recommend cutting off eating two hours before bedtime,” says Beal.
There are research-backed reasons for that advice. Late-night eating can lead to increased hunger and decreased leptin, a hormone that signals fullness, and may raise your risk for obesity, according to a study published in October 2022 in the journal Cell Metabolism.
As a general rule, Beal suggests eating something at your usual dinnertime, even if you’re full from a big or late lunch, to keep your body on schedule. “Have a light dinner of a little canned tuna and crackers instead of a full dinner,” she suggests.
Skipping meals can also do a number on your mental health. Older adults who skipped meals were more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms than those who didn’t, according to a study published in 2020 in the journal Innovation in Aging.
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