Eating jetlag: Weekend meal shifts associated with higher heart disease risk in men

by INRAE

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A team of researchers from INRAE, Inserm, Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Université Paris Cité and the CNAM has published the first study exploring the association between eating jetlag and the risk of cardiovascular disease. Eating jetlag refers to the difference in the timing of meals between weekdays—when mealtimes are often shaped by work schedules—and weekends or days off. This shift in eating patterns may disrupt the body's biological rhythms and could have implications for cardiovascular health.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 100,000 participants in the NutriNet-Santé cohort over a 14-year follow-up period. Their findings, published in Communications Medicine, suggest that each additional hour of eating jetlag was associated with a 14% higher risk of cardiovascular disease in men and a 21% higher risk of coronary heart disease. They did not observe any significant association in women. These findings suggest that discrepancies in mealtimes between weekdays and weekends may play a role in the onset of cardiovascular disease.

Work often requires people to adjust their eating patterns during the week, resulting in differences in eating schedules between weekdays and weekends or days off—when meal timing tends to be more closely aligned with their internal biological clocks. This shift, known as eating jet lag, may disrupt the body's biological rhythm. Previous studies have shown that disruptions to the biological clock linked to night work or late mealtimes can lead to cardiovascular complications.

The research team chose to assess the link between eating jet lag and the risk of cardiovascular disease within the NutriNet-Santé cohort. They analyzed data from 104,806 adult NutriNet-Santé participants between 2009 and 2023. The severity of eating jet lag was calculated based on the timing of participants' first and last meals of the day on weekdays and weekends.

The association between eating jet lag and the risk of cardiovascular disease was assessed using appropriate statistical models, which also took into account other factors such as age, marital status and the number of children living in the household; socio-occupational factors; smoking; alcohol consumption; physical activity; diet; sleep; and more. By comparing meal timing on weekdays and weekends, the researchers classified eating jet lag according to the magnitude of the difference into three categories:

• "Advance," where mealtimes are earlier on weekends than on weekdays, with an average 2-hour advance in the eating window;
• "Regular," where the eating windows are similar;
• "Delay," where mealtimes are later on weekends than on weekdays, with an average delay of 1 hour, 40 minutes in the eating window.

Eating jet lag associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease in men

For men, the results suggest that each additional hour of eating jet lag—whether earlier or later—is associated with an average 14% higher risk of cardiovascular disease and an average 21% higher risk of coronary heart disease. Both the "Advance" and "Delay" groups showed a higher risk than the "Regular" group.

The researchers did not find any significant difference among women. Several hypotheses may account for this finding. The first relates to sexual dimorphism, or differences in physiological functioning between the two biological sexes. The second relates to differences in lifestyle and socio-occupational circumstances between women and men in society, which could lead to different circadian rhythms. Finally, the absolute risk of cardiovascular disease is higher in men.

This initial study suggests that changes in mealtimes between weekdays and weekends may play a role in the development of cardiovascular disease, regardless of sleep and diet, particularly in men. Further studies are needed to build on this initial observational study and establish the causality of these links.

"A few years ago, we suggested that eating late was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This new study suggests that, beyond simply eating late, maintaining consistent mealtimes between weekdays and weekends may be just as important. These associations appear to be independent of how long people sleep, suggesting that regular mealtimes could, in themselves, help resynchronize our biological rhythm. We are continuing our research to better understand this phenomenon," said Bernard Srour, research director at INRAE.

Publication details

Xuân Le Folcalvez et al, Eating jetlag based on meal timing discrepancies and risk of cardiovascular disease using the prospective cohort NutriNet-Santé, Communications Medicine (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s43856-026-01758-5

Journal information: Communications Medicine

Key medical concepts

Cardiovascular DiseasesCoronary Disease

Clinical categories

CardiologyNutrition & Healthy eatingPreventive medicineHealthy livingMen's health Provided by INRAE Who's behind this story?

Gaby Clark

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