Dr Nick Fuller
Leading Obesity Expert at the University of Sydney and founder of Interval Weight Loss.
Feeling tempted to skip dinner in the hopes of losing weight faster? While cutting a meal might seem like an easy shortcut, research shows the effects on your body are more complex than just ‘fewer calories equals weight loss’. Skipping dinner can alter hunger hormones, disrupt blood sugar, and affect sleep quality, which may counteract weight loss goals. A study on early time-restricted feeding, a form of intermittent fasting where dinner is eaten earlier in the day, shows improvements in insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, oxidative stress, and appetite regulation, even without weight loss.
Dinner isn’t just another meal, as it plays a key role in regulating hunger, energy, and metabolism. Eating a balanced evening meal helps prevent extreme hunger the next morning, making it easier to stick to your overall calorie goals. Consistent, nutrient-rich dinners also support better appetite control and can reduce late-night snacking. In contrast, reducing daily meal frequency, such as skipping one or two meals, has been shown to increase perceived hunger and decrease satiety.
In addition, a well-planned dinner provides essential nutrients your body needs after a long day. Protein and fibre help keep you full, while vitamins and minerals support metabolism, muscle recovery, and overall health.
Skipping dinner might seem like a quick way to cut calories, but research suggests it can backfire by increasing cravings and disrupting your natural energy balance. Skipping meals, especially dinner, reduces total daily energy intake but also lowers overall diet quality, which could negatively affect long-term health.
Skipping dinner triggers several changes in your body that can affect weight management, energy, and overall health. How your body responds depends on your overall diet, activity level, and timing of previous meals. Here’s what research shows:
Metabolic shifts
Going long periods without food pushes your body to switch fuel sources. Rather than running on sugar, your body turns to fat stores for energy, a shift that also powers the brain.
Disrupts blood sugar levels
Skipping dinner means your body is managing glucose at a time when it’s naturally less efficient. In the evening, glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity are lower, especially in people with insulin resistance. This can lead to bigger blood sugar swings, which may fuel cravings for calorie-dense foods and make appetite harder to control the next day.
May increase hunger hormones
Skipping dinner can elevate ghrelin, the hunger hormone, leading to stronger appetite signals and increased likelihood of overeating later.
Can lead to fatigue
A lack of evening fuel may leave you low on energy for late-night tasks or next-day activities. Reduced glycogen stores and lower blood sugar can make you feel sluggish, irritable, or less focused.
Affects sleep quality
Going to bed hungry can interfere with sleep onset and depth. Poor sleep then compounds appetite regulation, often increasing cravings for calorie-dense foods the following day.
May cause nutrient deficiencies
Missing a major meal means missing an opportunity to consume essential nutrients like protein, fibre, vitamins, and minerals and makes it challenging to meet the daily requirements. Over time, this can impact muscle maintenance, bone health, and overall diet quality.
While skipping dinner isn’t right for everyone, it can offer benefits under certain conditions, particularly when part of a structured approach to eating and weight management. Research suggests that strategic evening fasting may support calorie control, metabolic health, and appetite regulation.
Skipping dinner can lower overall calorie intake, which may help create the calorie deficit needed for weight loss. This works best when other meals are balanced and nutrient-dense, preventing compensatory overeating later.
Evening fasting fits naturally into many intermittent fasting routines, such as the 16:8 schedule, where the last meal of the day ends earlier. Studies indicate that fasting windows can improve appetite control and help some people stick to calorie goals.
Eating earlier in the day and avoiding late-night meals can improve insulin response, supporting stable blood sugar levels and reducing the risk of fat storage from evening meals.
Skipping dinner provides the digestive system a longer rest period, which may support gut health and allow the body to focus on overnight repair and metabolic processes.
Some evidence shows that eating in alignment with natural circadian rhythms, like consuming more calories earlier and less at night, can improve metabolism, hormone balance, and overall energy regulation.
Skipping dinner isn’t suitable for everyone. Certain groups may experience negative effects on blood sugar, energy, or nutrient intake if they remove their evening meal:
People With Certain Medical Conditions: Individuals with diabetes, hypoglycemia, or digestive issues may experience worsened blood sugar fluctuations, increased hunger, or gastrointestinal discomfort. Meal timing is important for managing these conditions.
Pregnant or Breastfeeding Individuals: Dinner provides essential nutrients and energy needed for fetal growth, milk production, and maternal health. Skipping this meal may make it harder to meet daily nutrient requirements.
Athletes or People With High Energy Demands: For active individuals, dinner helps replenish glycogen, support muscle recovery, and maintain energy levels. Missing this meal can compromise performance, recovery, and overall energy balance.
If you decide to experiment with skipping dinner, doing so mindfully can help minimise potential drawbacks and protect energy, nutrient intake, and metabolism.
Rather than suddenly eliminating dinner, extend the gap between your last meal and bedtime incrementally. This allows your body to adapt and prevents excessive hunger.
Prioritise protein, fiber, and healthy fats in breakfast and lunch to stabilise blood sugar, keep hunger at bay, and supply essential vitamins and minerals.
Drinking enough water helps reduce hunger signals, while moderating caffeine in the evening prevents sleep disruption, which can affect appetite regulation.
Pay attention to how your body responds. Persistent fatigue, dizziness, or irritability may indicate that skipping dinner isn’t suitable for you, and adjustments should be made accordingly.
Skipping dinner can work for some people, but it’s definitely not a one-size-fits-all thing. For a few, it might help cut back on calories, support intermittent fasting, or even improve how the body handles blood sugar. But if it’s not done with some thought, it can mess with your metabolism, crank up cravings, throw off sleep, and leave you missing out on important nutrients.
The trick is finding balance. That means eating filling, nutrient-rich meals earlier in the day, listening to your hunger cues, and thinking about your energy needs, health, and lifestyle. For plenty of people, sticking with a regular dinner actually makes it easier to stay nourished and keep energy steady.
At the end of the day, it’s not about whether you skip dinner or not. It’s about what helps you feel good, stay healthy, and manage your weight without adding stress or feeling deprived.
Thinking skipping dinner might fast-track fat loss? Discover how intermittent fasting truly affects your metabolism, and whether skipping that evening meal is a smart move or just another myth. Read this article.
Dr Nick Fuller is the founder of Interval Weight Loss and is a leading obesity expert at the University of Sydney with a Ph.D. in Obesity Treatment. Dr Fuller is also the author of three best-selling books and his work been published in top ranked journals in the medical field, including JAMA, Lancet and American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.