Are you someone who makes their way to the kitchen late at night to look for some snacks or desserts? If yes, then let us tell you, these midnight cravings are one of the major reasons for weight gain. You heard us. A recent study by Harvard School of Medicine found that late eating leads to more calorie intake, less calorie burn and molecular changes in fat tissues. These factors further lead to obesity risk. The researchers, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, found that “what we eat significantly impacts our energy expenditure, appetite, and molecular pathways in adipose tissue.”
The researchers analysed 16 people for the study, with a body mass index in the overweight or obese range. Each participant completed two laboratory protocols – one with a strictly scheduled early meal schedule, and the other with the same meals, each scheduled about four hours later in the day.
“In the last two to three weeks before starting each of the in-laboratory protocols, participants maintained fixed sleep and wake schedules, and in the final three days before entering the laboratory, they strictly followed identical diets and meal schedules at home,” the study further read.
The result showed that eating later had a strong effect on hunger and appetite, which influences our drive to eat. The findings further establish the underlying correlation between the physiological and molecular mechanisms and late eating habit, leading to increased obesity risk.
Considering the above study, we say, it is always better to keep a check on what we eat and when we eat to keep up an overall healthy lifestyle.
About Somdatta SahaExplorer- this is what Somdatta likes to call herself. Be it in terms of food, people or places, all she craves for is to know the unknown. A simple aglio olio pasta or daal-chawal and a good movie can make her day.
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