Healthy living habits include eating dinner earlier — it may also help keep weight down

A study published in Cell Metabolism found that eating later in the day doubled the odds of feeling hungry, compared to early eating — experts suggest ways to enhance healthy living habits.

"Accumulating data suggest that eating earlier in the day is associated with lower body weight and improved weight loss success," senior author Frank A.J.L. Scheer, Ph.D., professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the medical chronobiology program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston told Fox News Digital.  "We found that eating four hours later makes a significant difference for our hunger levels, the way we burn calories after we eat and the way we store fat." Late eating had a significant effect on the body’s hormones, leptin and ghrelin, that control appetite and a person’s drive to eat.  Most people base their food decisions on several factors beyond the timing of meals — including finances, work schedules, access to food, and stress and mental health status.  Amy McGorry is a contributing health reporter for Fox News Digital. Follow her on Twitter @amymcgorry.

Scheer, who is a neuroscientist as well, said the study simultaneously looked at three mechanisms in the body that could explain weight gain associated with eating late.