A study suggests eating later in the day can directly impact our biological weight regulation in three key ways: through the number of calories that we burn; our hunger levels; and the way our bodies store fat.
With obesity now affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide, this is a valuable insight into how the risk of becoming obese could be lowered in a relatively simple way – just by eating our meals a few hours earlier.
Earlier studies had already identified a link between the timing of meals and weight gain, but here the researchers wanted to look at that link more closely, as well as teasing out the biological reasons behind it.
“We wanted to test the mechanisms that may explain why late eating increases obesity risk,” said neuroscientist Frank Scheer, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in 2022 when the study was published.
“Studies show that mindlessly shame-eating cake while kneeling in front of the fridge at 2am makes you fat.”
What a goofy thumbnail lol
Anecdotal, but I do intermittent fasting. I typically stop eating around 6pm, sometimes earlier. I lost 10lbs less than 3 months after I started without changing what I eat, just when I eat. Before that, I used to keep snacking until midnight before I went to bed.
Glad fasting is working for you! Are you confident that you are eating the same number of calories as you were before (even if you are eating the same kinds of foods)?
Do you get all those snacks you used to eat until midnight in before 6:00pm, or do you just eat until full?
I honestly don’t count calories (which is why IF was perfect for me), but I’m likely eating less because I’m essentially skipping one meal a day (I do 16:8). When I started, I actually kept getting all those snacks in and ate a lot on my last meal because I was always worried about going hungry. I still lost weight anyway. Nowadays, I pace myself a little better (there’s only so much you can eat in 8 hours) and no longer need to stuff myself at 6pm.
I’ve been doing IF for 7 years. Works great for me.
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I don’t think we can simply say for certain that a calorie is a calorie no matter when its consumed.
Although evidence is still limited, there are indicators that eating earlier in the day leads to less weightgain.
My blatantly unscientific quick rationale: if you’re catching your prey late in the day, it was a tough hunt or food might be scarce, better hang on to those calories tightly.
In a slightly more scientific angle, I wonder if it could have to do with changes in digestion processes when sleeping.
IDK, AFAIK that’s not exactly true. E.g. our gut bacteria play a big role in our health, including digestion. Gut bacteria are living organisms themselves and consume food we eat while it’s still in our stomachs. I’ve read that different kinds of foods, depending how easy it is for the bacteria to consume, may introduce more or less calories to us since the bacteria might digest some things before it gets past our stomach.
From what I’ve read, this is already influenced by the state of food, like how much it’s been processed, but maybe it’s based on time too. If the bacteria already ate an hour or two ago then maybe they wouldn’t absorb as much when you have a snack later.
It’s weird how every time one of these studies comes out, there’s always a couple idiots screaming:
A calorie is a calorie, no matter what!
Not only doe they always remind me of the Horton Hears a Who, they never fucking learn anything.
They were told something in 6th grade science class and latched on.
Completely ignorant that there’d be a reason that children don’t get taught everything and usually only get broad specifics.
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Or maybe they’re saying that walking that kilometer can be easier or harder, depending on whether you’re going uphill or down, and whether there is snow upon the ground
