The timing at which you eat has a direct impact on energy expenditure, appetite, and also on the process of adipose tissue growth. The discovery was made by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA, and was published in an article in the journal Cell Metabolism on Tuesday (4).
The team already knew from previous studies that eating later affects weight gain, but they wanted to understand the mechanisms at work in this behavior.
“We found that eating four hours later makes a significant difference in how hungry we are, how we burn calories after we eat, and how we store fat,” said Dr. Chronobiology from the Department of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
The work involved monitoring 16 patients with a BMI (body mass index) in the range of overweight or obese. They were divided into two groups with different feeding protocols.
The first adopted a strictly scheduled time for the first meals of the day. The second received the same meals but four hours later.
They were also instructed to maintain fixed sleep and wake times for the three weeks leading up to the followup. In the three days prior to the start of the study, they were already on the same diet that would be used.
In the laboratory, they regularly documented hunger and appetite and provided blood samples, body temperature data and energy consumption throughout the day.
By analyzing the results of the blood tests, the scientists found that the group that ate later had changes in the levels of leptin and ghrelin, hormones that regulate appetite and affect our desire to eat more.
Leptin, which signals satiety, decreased over 24 hours in those who ate later compared to the group who ate earlier.
The lateeating group also burned calories more slowly and “demonstrated gene expression in adipose tissue to increase adipogenesis and decrease lipolysis,” meaning they actually have an easier time putting on fat.
This is the first time that scientists have identified converging physiological and molecular mechanisms that link late eating to an increased risk of obesity.
The group intends to conduct further studies to consider other variables that may be associated with meals.
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