You may have read that light coming into your eyes sets the body’s clock, technically known as our circadian rhythm. Fewer people know that when you eat food shifts the clocks in tissues in your liver, muscles, and fat. Human beings evolved to eat only during daylight, which lasted 12 hours much of the year in the African savanna. That meant we didn’t eat for 12 hours a day. Sticking as nearly as possible to that plan may help you stay healthier as well as thinner.

It’s a surprisingly bad idea to skip breakfast, eat lunch or dinner late, eat a big bedtime snack, or eat in the middle of the night.

Carrying enough fat to qualify as having obesity is not a matter of shame—but it does up the health risks we've all heard about, including diabetes, dementia, and heart disease. Choosing when you eat is one of the tools you can put to work. Start by eating breakfast.

In a study with 776........

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