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.
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.