This eating pattern aligns with our circadian rhythm, the natural 24-hour clock that governs many aspects of our health, from daily hormone fluctuations and body temperature to our sleep-wake cycles.
for our way Our body clock works and our bodies are ready to digest and metabolize food early in the day.As the day progresses, our metabolism becomes less efficient. Studies show that a meal eaten at 9:00 am can have very different metabolic effects than the same meal eaten at 9:00 pm.
This emerging field of research, known as chrononutrition, represents a paradigm shift in how nutrition researchers think about food and health. We look at timing and find that it can have a significant impact on weight, appetite, risk of chronic disease, and the body’s ability to burn and store fat.
“This is something nobody in the field of nutrition has been paying attention to until recently. It’s always been about what you’re eating, the energy content of food, or what carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are. ‘ said Marta Garolet, professor of physiology and nutrition. She studies meal timing and its effects on obesity and metabolism at the University of Murcia in Spain.
In today’s busy world, it’s common to skip breakfast and binge into the night after a long day at work. I’m saying
In her research, Garaulet found that even in her native Spain, famous for its late-eating culture, people who typically eat a large lunch and a light dinner at noon have a lower metabolic rate than those who burn more calories at night. I found that there were few problems with
“In Spain, our main meal is between two and three in the afternoon,” she said. “We eat 35 to 40 percent of our calories during the day. Even if we have a late dinner, we don’t eat as much.”
Hearty breakfast and light dinner
When you eat your meals is just one of many dietary factors that can affect your metabolic health. Others, such as night shift workers, find it impossible not to eat late at night.
However, research suggests that for those whose schedules allow, it may be beneficial to eat the most meals of the day in the morning or afternoon than in the evening.
In a new study published in Obesity Reviews, scientists examined data from nine rigorous clinical trials involving 485 adults. They found that people who were assigned to follow a diet that consumed the most calories earlier in the day lost more weight than those who did the opposite. Some blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, and insulin sensitivity were significantly improved.
In another study published in Cell Metabolism in October, scientists recruited a group of adults to find out what happens when they follow a fast eating schedule for six days.The schedule included breakfast at 8am, lunch at noon and dinner at 4pm.
On another occasion, they had the same participants follow a schedule of late meals, delaying each meal by four hours over six days. They were closely monitored, provided with all meals, and maintained a strict sleep-wake schedule in a laboratory setting.
Why Eating Late Makes You Hungry
The researchers found that despite eating the same food and maintaining the same level of physical activity, participants became significantly hungrier when they followed a slow eating schedule.
When we looked at their hormone levels, we found out why. Slow eating spikes levels of ghrelin, a hormone that increases appetite, while simultaneously suppressing levels of leptin, the hormone that causes satiety. it was done.
The study found that eating later reduced fat burning and calories in participants, prompting fat cells to store more fat.
“Surprisingly, we found that all of these mechanisms were consistently shifting in the direction of promoting weight gain,” said senior author of the study, medical hours in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders. said Frank Scheer, director of the biology program. at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Other studies have yielded similar results. In a randomized trial at Johns Hopkins University, scientists found that healthy young adults who ate dinner at 10 p.m. found that it burned less and increased blood sugar by 20%.
“It’s clear that the timing of meals is important. It’s not just what you eat, but when you eat it,” says Jonathan Jun, associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and author of the study. said. “Eating later reduces your glucose tolerance and causes your body to burn less fat than if you ate the same food earlier.”
How to follow a fast eating schedule
Scientists studying meal timing say the following strategies may help optimize health.
- Please don’t skip breakfast. Garaulet and her colleagues found that skipping breakfast increased the risk of obesity. Morning is the time when our bodies are ready to metabolize food. “Try to get the majority of your calories in the morning or afternoon, but avoid at night,” she says Garaulet.
- Carbs in the morning are better than carbs later in the day. If you eat sweets and simple carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, and pastries, it’s better to eat them in the morning or early afternoon than at night, when insulin is most sensitive, Garole said.
- Try to eat dinner early. Start by eating dinner at least an hour earlier than usual. Ideally, you should aim to have dinner at least two to three hours before bedtime.
- Make dinner the smallest meal of the dayEven if you can’t eat dinner early, try to eat breakfast and lunch the most of the day and dinner the least. If you’re used to having a small lunch and a big dinner, switch the order. You can lighten your dinner with a vegetable-filled meal. “Try to shift more calories to breakfast and lunch,” says Courtney Peterson, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
- Experiment with meal timing at least five days a week. It may not be practical to eat a small or early dinner, but that’s okay. In the study, Peterson found that even those who ate a light dinner five days a week instead of seven had benefits, including better blood sugar control and less fatigue each day. Don’t think of it as either or zero,” said Peterson. “I eat out with my family, so some days I can’t go. But other days I can do it and that’s great. .”
The biology of meal timing
Scientists have uncovered several mechanisms that explain why a fast eating schedule is good for your health. Our body can secrete insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar levels, in the morning.
Also, we tend to be more insulin sensitive early in the day. This means your muscles are able to absorb and utilize more glucose from your bloodstream. At night, the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells become less active and less responsive to elevated blood sugar levels.
Another key component is hormone-sensitive lipase, the enzyme that releases fat from adipocytes. This enzyme is usually most active at night, so it can provide the body with energy to maintain organ function while you sleep.
But Garore found that eating late at night suppressed this enzyme, essentially preventing the body from burning fat. “There’s a big difference between someone who eats dinner about an hour before bed,” she said.
Questions about healthy eating? Email EatingLab@washpost.com I may answer your question in a future column.
