It is not often recommended to eat late meals if you want to lose weight. But few studies have investigated why this is so. Now researchers from the USA have taken a closer look at the matter. And they have focused on how this affects calorie burning, feelings of hunger and changes in fat tissue. In a new study, published in Cell Metabolism, they write that it is important for our energy consumption what time of day we eat. They also found that this affects our appetite as well as the way our body stores fat. Four hours made a difference – The aim of this study was to test the mechanisms that can explain why late meals increase the risk of obesity. This is what the author of the new study, Frank Scheer, says in a press release. Co-author Nina Vujovic says they asked themselves the following question ahead of the survey: Does the time of day we eat matter, if everything else we do is consistent? – We found that eating four hours later makes a significant difference. Both for our hunger level, the way we burn calories and the way our body stores fat. Biopsies and blood tests 16 patients with a high BMI participated in the study. That is, people who are overweight or obese. Each participant completed two different experiments. Patients followed a carefully planned diet plan. In one round, the meals were set at normal times of the day. In the second round, the same meals were consumed four hours later. In the period before the study started, the same routines for food and sleep were introduced among the participants. During the experiments, they had to go through a series of investigations. The researchers measured both temperature and hunger. Blood samples were taken and energy consumption was measured. To find out how and how much fat the patients stored, biopsies were performed. The results showed, among other things, that eating in the evening had an effect on several hormones in the body that regulate hunger. The late eating thus led to a desire for even more. In particular, the levels of the hormone leptin, which signals satiety, were reduced, the researchers write. The global obesity epidemic has led to dramatic changes in people’s weight. Among people with a high BMI, the risk of developing cancer is higher. Photo: Veronika Sussmannova Many people craved salty food His meals also led to the participants burning calories at a slower pace. And they must have had more of an appetite for meat and salty food. Salt suction increased by as much as 80 percent. The authors write that the study was a controlled experiment in an attempt to find answers. They point out that it has its limitations: the number of patients who participated may be a problem. In addition, the time perspective is scarce. The patients also could not eat food when they wanted, as they do in daily life. Therefore, it is difficult to know how much the time of day has to do with the total amount of calories we eat during a day, the researchers believe. Now they want to continue the work to find even more and better answers. They still believe that the findings should be taken seriously: – We must at least consider how behavior and other environmental variables can affect the biology underlying obesity, says Frank Scheer at Brigham and Woman’s Hospital.
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Eating late increases hunger, reduces calorie burning and changes our fat tissue, according to study – news Trøndelag
