Summary Why timing big meals early in the day is better for your health - The Washington Post www.washingtonpost.com
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Research suggests that eating earlier in the day can lead to weight loss, while The Washington Post provides advice on healthy eating and boosting well-being.
Key Points
- Eating late can make your body less glucose tolerant and burn less fat than eating the same food earlier in the day.
- Try meal-timing strategies such as making breakfast your biggest meal of the day and dinner your smallest.
- Eating most of your calories earlier in the day can help you lose weight and lower health risks.
- Don't skip breakfast as it increases your risk of obesity.
- Eating later causes levels of ghrelin, a hormone that increases appetite, to spike, while simultaneously suppressing levels of leptin, a hormone that causes satiety.
- Eating a large midday lunch and a light dinner can help prevent metabolic problems.
- Our circadian rhythms align with consuming most of our calories earlier in the day.
Summaries
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Scientists are increasingly researching the effects of meal timing on weight, appetite, chronic disease risk and fat storage. Chrono-nutrition suggests that most calories should be consumed earlier in the day. Studies have found that a meal eaten at 9am has different metabolic effects than the same meal eaten at 9pm. Research suggests that dinner should be spaced a few hours from bedtime. A study published in Obesity Reviews found that those who ate earlier in the day lost more weight than those who ate later. Another study found that eating later caused people to burn fewer calories and store more fat. To optimize health, try meal-timing strategies such as making breakfast the biggest meal of the day and dinner the smallest, and eating dinner two to three hours before bed. Studies have shown that eating late can increase blood sugar levels by 20% compared to eating the same food earlier in the day. Well+Being provides expert advice on boosting well-being and losing weight. Sign up for the Well+Being newsletter to receive tips in your inbox. Email [email protected] for questions about healthy eating. Privacy Choices allow users to make decisions about data collection and use. The Washington Post also offers advice columns, such as Ask Amy, Miss Manners, Carolyn Hax, and Real Life Advice.
712 word summary
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Well+Being provides expert advice on how to live well every day with simple tips to help boost your own well-being and to help you lose weight and lower health risks. It also provides information on the benefits of Dry January lasting longer than a month, the simple diet swap to help you lose weight and lower health risks and the time of day that you eat. You can sign up for the Well+Being newsletter to get tips directly in your inbox. If you have any questions about healthy eating you can email [email protected] and your question may be answered in a future column. Studies have shown that when it comes to food timing, not just what you eat but when you eat it is important. Eating late can make your body less glucose tolerant and burn less fat than eating the same food earlier in the day. Scientists found that healthy young adults had a 20 percent increase in their blood sugar levels when they ate dinner at 10 p.m. compared to when they ate the same dinner at 6 p.m.
To optimize your health, try meal-timing strategies such as making breakfast your biggest meal of the day and dinner your smallest. Eat the majority of your calories during the morning or afternoon, not at night. If you're going to have simple carbs such as bread and pasta, do so in the morning or early afternoon. Aim to eat dinner at least two to three hours before bed. Also, don't skip breakfast - a study found that skipping your morning meal increases your risk of obesity. A study conducted at Johns Hopkins Hospital found that eating later caused participants to burn fewer calories and store more fat. The study, published in Cell Metabolism, was tightly controlled and included 16 people who were monitored closely and given all their meals. Meals were pushed back four hours over a six-day period.
The study, published in Obesity Reviews, looked at nine rigorous clinical trials with 485 participants. Researchers found that those who consumed most of their calories earlier in the day lost more weight than those who consumed most of their calories later.
Frank Scheer, director of the Medical Chronobiology Program in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Womens Hospital, said the mechanisms consistently changed in the direction that would promote weight gain. Eating later caused levels of ghrelin, a hormone that increases appetite, to spike, while simultaneously suppressing levels of leptin, a hormone that causes satiety.
Marina Garaulet, a professor of physiology and nutrition at the University of Murcia in Spain, found even in her native Spain, which is famous for its late-eating culture, people who eat a large midday lunch and a light dinner develop fewer metabolic problems than those who consume a lot of nighttime calories. Researchers suggest that whenever possible, it would be better to space dinner a few hours from bedtime. Scientists are increasingly looking at meal timing and discovering that it can have striking effects on weight, appetite, chronic disease risk and the body's ability to burn and store fat. This field of research, known as chrono-nutrition, suggests that for optimal health, most calories should be consumed earlier in the day. Studies show that a meal consumed at 9 a.m. can have vastly different metabolic effects than the same meal consumed at 9 p.m. Our circadian rhythms, the innate 24-hour clock that governs many aspects of our health, aligns with this pattern of eating. This new year, prioritize ways to simplify your life and build good habits by making it easier to succeed.