A recent study found that eating late in the evening makes you more likely to gain weight and increase your sugar levels, regardless of the number of calories you consume.
If you have dinner at 10:00 pm, but avoid the time, for example, 6:00 pm, then your glucose level directly affects the fat burning process.
The results of the experiment were such that people who ate a late dinner had a maximum sugar level that was 20 percent higher, and lipid breakdown processes slowed down by 10 percent in relation to the group of people who had their evening meal at an earlier time.
According to everyone, a calorie is considered as a calorie, and no one takes into account the factor of when and in what form it enters the body. That is, weight gain is provoked by the consumption of calories in large quantities, which the body does not have time to process. This definition in dietetics is part of the general theory of weight control.
However, not everything is as simple and logical as it might seem at first glance. A new study finds that time plays a huge role in influencing your weight changes.
The later you eat, the faster you get fat
According to a study published in the Endocrinology Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, eating late in the day increases blood sugar levels and also causes weight gain, no matter what kind of food you eat.
According to Dr. Jonathan S. Jun, a research associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University and also an author of the experiment, there were other similar studies that suggested that eating late was associated with obesity. But the relationship between two factors and causation are two different concepts, so the new study aims to study it more rigorously.
The goal of the research team was to understand whether and how a late dinner affects the metabolic processes of the human body, and whether this causes obesity.
The trial was a randomized clinically controlled experiment in which participants were healthy people. They were divided into two groups, one of which ate earlier, and the second – later. At the same time, the diet and menu were planned, and sleep time was controlled.
One food – one sleep
Jonathan S. June’s team studied the behavior and body characteristics of 20 volunteers – 10 women and 10 men. The subject of the study was the body’s reaction to dinner, which was eaten at 18.00 and 22.00 for each group, respectively.
The start time of sleep was the same for everyone – at 23.00.
This result was not a surprise to the scientists, since similar studies have already provided similar evidence based on circadian rhythms and diet.
When people ate their meals late, their peak blood sugar levels were 20 percent higher and they burned 10 percent less fat compared to those who ate dinner earlier.
Chengguan Gu, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University and the study’s first author, said he thought the effects seen in healthy volunteers may be more pronounced in people who are overweight, obese, or diabetic because their metabolism has become compromised.
Everyone can’t eat the same thing
The most interesting part of the study is that it found that not all people have the same reaction to eating late. According to Jun, what surprised him most was the fact that everyone’s level of vulnerability was individual. Data on activity patterns over a 2-week period indicated that people who were accustomed to going to bed earlier were ill and uncomfortable from a late dinner.
But those who, in their usual life, went to bed late and were used to eating at 2 or 3 a.m. did not suffer in any way from the change in diet. Of course, this approach cannot be called universal, since everyone has their own metabolic characteristics, which is why eating becomes either a punishment or does not bother a person at all.
A unique and detailed study among others
Jonathan S. Juna noted that his study is the most detailed compared to other similar trials being conducted. Each participant wore an activity tracker, had blood drawn regularly, had sleep patterns and body fat measured, and was given food that contained non-radioactive markers to measure lipid metabolism.
The monitoring of all people was very intensive and detailed, with laboratory tests. Blood was drawn every hour and sleep was monitored for two weeks before participants were invited to the laboratory. A special stable isotope tracer was carried out so that during a meal it was possible to measure the amount of fat eaten and how much of it was oxidized or burned.
According to the scientist, his experiment became convincing evidence that it is the timing of meals that is of primary importance, and not what foods were in dinner. This approach shows the true biological plausibility and provides explanations that the time you eat affects how the body processes the calories you receive.
Based on this analysis, all eating habits can be determined.
M. Louise Fitzpatrick, despite the fact that the participants in the experiment were young and completely healthy people, it still provided valuable data for calculating eating habits. Also, based on the data obtained, it will be possible to draw up a plan for disease prevention.
The study is a kind of reminder that eating habits are formed not only under the influence of traditional factors, in particular the quantitative and qualitative indicators of food, but also under the influence of the temporal aspect – eating at a certain time of the day affects the risk of chronic diseases, in particular , can provoke the development of heart pathologies, diabetes, etc.
In terms of calorie intake, dinner becomes the largest meal of the day, Dewald noted. This is explained by the fact that people are busy with their work and fast pace of life, they do not have time to have breakfast and lunch or do it hastily, and often meals are taken later than they should be. Thus, upon arriving home, there is a natural desire to eat, and this most often occurs in the late hours. All this leads to metabolic disorders and the fact that glucose accumulates and fats are not broken down.
