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Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper!

or

Eat like a king in the morning, a prince at noon, and a peasant at dinner

The abovementioned proverb doesn't mention how, for example, eating like a king is defined nor does it contain any reason why one should do it, but it is safe to assume that following it would be seen as healthier than any other distribution / relation of the amount eaten per mealtime, assuming that we eat three times a day.

Here are some sources to show that this is a notable claim:

Joschua
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    Related Question: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/4136/is-a-full-english-breakfast-good-for-you – Oddthinking Oct 01 '14 at 08:43
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    I find casting the meals as verbs more euphonious: Breakfast like a king; lunch like a prince; dine like a pauper. – TRiG Oct 01 '14 at 12:07
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    It is not known for sure if we need three meals a day. See http://biology.stackexchange.com/q/16512/6422 – Cornelius Oct 01 '14 at 19:29
  • @Cornelius Yeah, and it would be pretty interesting to know the number of meals per day that would be optimal for health! – Joschua Oct 02 '14 at 23:00
  • Do proverbs constitute notable claims? I don't think it's clear that this proverb is meant to give health advice or even that it's literally about eating at all. It could, for instance, be a metaphor about changing your standard of living as you age. – Nate Eldredge Oct 03 '14 at 13:17
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    There is a very similar proverb in Russian. "Eat breakfast yourself. Share lunch with your friend. Give your dinner to your enemy" The concept of eating early in the day is a widely believed one. – Andrey Oct 03 '14 at 13:25
  • @Andrey Interesting! Slightly unrelated, but I know something similar in regards to tea, which appears to be a Chinese saying: "The first infusion is for your enemy, the second is for your friends, and the third is for yourself." That's because the second infusion is said to taste better than the first and the third better than the second. – Joschua Oct 03 '14 at 17:40
  • Following on my previous comment, see http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/1239/is-taking-an-idiom-literally-necessarly-off-topic/1240#1240 which suggests that we need a notable source claiming that this proverb is literally true. – Nate Eldredge Oct 05 '14 at 16:20
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    @NateEldredge I could remove every trace of the proverb in my post and the question would still remain: Is it healthier to eat a lot in the morning, less in the noon and little in the evening?, but the proverb is definitely often understood that way. (Just search for one version of it and look at what people write about it.) – Joschua Oct 06 '14 at 12:12
  • ´Just search for one version of it and look at what people write about it.´ The way this site works is that the onus is on you to do that, and include in your question at least one example from a notable source (something widely read). – Nate Eldredge Oct 06 '14 at 12:57
  • @NateEldredge I'm just wondering, because I found a lot of question in this SE without any links to show that the questions is related to a notable claim. Anyway, I added some links I found. :) – Joschua Oct 07 '14 at 19:12

1 Answers1

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Yes, there is evidence to suggest that eating breakfast like a king is beneficial.

High caloric intake at breakfast vs. dinner differentially influences weight loss of overweight and obese women. concludes that

High-calorie breakfast with reduced intake at dinner is beneficial and might be a useful alternative for the management of obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Other research:

Conclusions: Breakfast led to increased satiety through increased fullness and PYY concns. in breakfast skipping' adolescents. A breakfast rich in dietary protein provides addnl. benefits through redns. in appetite and energy intake. These findings suggest that the addition of a protein-rich breakfast might be an effective strategy to improve appetite control in young people.

The addition of a protein-rich breakfast and its effects on acute appetite control and food intake in breakfast-skipping' adolescents

The results suggest that the morning intake association with reduced total intake is macronutrient specific, with morning carbohydrate, fat and protein intake associated with reduced daily carbohydrate, fat and protein intake, respectively.

The time of day and the proportions of macronutrients eaten are related to total daily food intake.

The initial and sustained feelings of fullness following protein consumption at breakfast suggests that the timing of protein intake differentially influences satiety during ER [Energy Restriction].

Increased dietary protein consumed at breakfast leads to an initial and sustained feeling of fullness during energy restriction compared to other meal times.

Oddthinking
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jmabs
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    I've added the citations for you, please make sure you include them in the future (and also double check the links, they were broken) – Sklivvz Jan 18 '15 at 13:59
  • It seems to me that healtier here is intended as "making you lose weight" which is the opposite most people need for their health. – gurghet Jan 01 '20 at 14:58