Most people know eating late is not a great move if you’re watching your weight.
However, it’s commonly thought that the reason it’s not a good idea is because you’re less active in the evening and therefore won’t burn so much of it off.
That’s only a very small part of the reason why eating late can make you fat.
Eating Late – Proven To Make You Fat
Physiological functions of our bodies run on a repeating 24 hour cycle, and digestion certainly does this.
Our 24 hour cycle is mainly influenced by the sunrise and sunset – i.e. it is not under our control.
Our digestive system reaches its peak effectiveness sometime between noon and 3pm. This means our bodies handle food the best in this window, so the best time to eat our biggest meal is then.
This is clearly shown in a study* that split a group of people into two groups. Each group only had one meal per day, but both groups had the same meal. The difference between them was the timing of the meal.
Both groups lost weight, but the group who ate in the morning lost loads more than the group who ate in the evening.
Naturally you’d think this was because the morning eaters burned off the calories, and to a small extent you might be right.
But something much more significant was going on inside, that only blood tests can shine a light on.
Ramping Up Your Ability To Make Fat
The group who were eating later had a 25 to 50% greater insulin response to the same meal.
Insulin determines how much fat you’ll lay down after you’ve eaten.
Eating late causes your body to produce far more insulin than it would earlier on. This means you get fatter eating late than you would if you were in the habit of getting most of your calorie in earlier.
You can learn more about insulin and its amazing capacity to make us fat in this blog – How To Burn Fat.
Some of patients and clients have made significant improvements to their weight loss by making one simple change – having their most calorific meal earlier in the day, and having something lighter in the evening.
Simple tweaks like this can make a big difference if practiced consistently over time.
This habit also helps you sleep more deeply too.
Have a great week.
Dr Julie
* High Caloric Intake At Breakfast vs Dinner Deferentially Influences Weight Loss of Overweight and Obese Women. Obesity 2013