Eating breakfast and dinner an hour earlier cuts the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Eating breakfast earlier has a range of health benefits
A new study shows that people who eat for the first time at 9am are six per cent more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than a person who tucks into breakfast at 8am.
Eating after 9pm was also linked with a 28 per cent higher risk of stroke compared to having supper before 8pm - particularly in females.
However, the study - using data from over 103,000 French people - also revealed that a longer duration of "night-time fasting", the time between the last meal of one day and the first of the next, is linked to reduced risk of a stroke.
Dr. Hassan Srour, of the French national institute for agricultural research, said: "These findings, which need to be replicated in other cohorts and through additional scientific studies with different designs, highlight a potential role for meal timing in preventing cardiovascular disease.
"They suggest that adopting the habit of eating earlier first and last meals with a longer period of night-time fasting could help to prevent the risk of cardiovascular disease."