Another study which lays to rest that mistaken idea, but in a different twist to the normal twist (normal twist being that what you eat determines your weight, not just the number of calories).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8234386.stm

Eating late at night adds weight

Quote :

"By Sudeep Chand Health reporter, BBC News Late-night snackers are more likely to gain weight, research suggests. A team from Northwestern University, Illinois, found that when you eat, not just how you eat, could make a big difference. Scientists found that when mice ate at unusual hours, they put on twice as much weight, despite exercising and eating as much as others. The study, in the journal Obesity, is said to be the first to show directly that there is a "wrong" time to eat. Recent studies have suggested that circadian rhythms, the body's internal clock, have a role in how our bodies use up energy. However, this had been difficult to definitively pin down. Deanna Arble, lead author of the study, said: "One of our research interests is shift workers, who tend to be overweight. "This got us thinking that eating at the wrong time of day might be contributing to weight gain." The experiment looked at two groups of mice over a six-week period. Both groups were fed a high-fat diet, but at different times of the mice "waking cycle". One group of mice ate at times when they would normally be asleep. They put on twice as much weight. This was despite them doing the same level of activity, and eating the same amount of food, as the other mice. Groundbreaking The findings may have implications for people worried about their weight. "How or why a person gains weight is very complicated, but it is clearly not just calories in and calories out," said Fred Turek, from the Northwestern's Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology, where the research took place. "Better timing of meals could be a critical element in slowing the ever-increasing incidence of obesity." Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, agreed. He said: "It is groundbreaking. It really gets you thinking why this has not been done before. "It could be very dramatic if it affects whether you are going to get fat or not." At this stage, the results could still be interpreted as controversial when applied to humans. The scientists now hope they can find out more about how the process works. It is thought that sleep, hormones and body temperature all play a part in how we gain weight."

9/4/2009 7:17:15 PM

TROO

9/4/2009 7:48:06 PM

So what? this is not new. not eating before bed has been recommended for weight control and weight loss for years.

It would certainly help with obesity for people to not eat late at night, but most of these people have horrible eating and exercise habits in general. Is it not just that they eat late. This is just one small contributor to the problem.


Generally speaking, if you cut calories you will lose some weight. If you cut calories and workout more... you WILL lose weight. Generally speaking, a calorie is a calorie. You can then break it down to good carbs/fats vs bad carbs/fats, portion sizes, and the times you eat, etc. But generally speaking, a calorie is a calorie and most overweight people could lose weight by eating less and exercising more. They could do better by knowing about the nutrients they're putting in their body and in choosing their sources of calories accordingly, as well as how the portion sizes and times of day play a role. But that requires additional knowledge. Counting calories is a catch-all that anyone can do right away without knowing much else.

That being said, there are obviously people with medical disorders, hormone problems, etc. which make it more difficult to control weight.

9/4/2009 9:37:03 PM

Intermittent Fasting > **

don't fuck with evolution

9/4/2009 9:37:09 PM

I generally hate studies like this.

Are there any more studies that back this?

How many mice were there? I mean are we talking two groups of 6 or 600?

Did they wake up the mice to make them eat?
If so, how do we know that interrupted/crappy sleep isn't what's to blame more so than when they ate?
Having inadequate sleep is generally not good for metabolism.

Or maybe I am reading the study wrong and they switched the cycles of the rats totally (one group was asleep during the day, the other at night?).
Even if that is true I would like to know how long they let the mice become acclimated to their new cycles.


Also relating mouse to human is very, very tricky.

I'm not trying to troll or anything, I just tend to take these things with a grain of salt.

Quote :

""Better timing of meals could be a critical element in slowing the ever-increasing incidence of obesity.""

I think this is clutch though

9/4/2009 9:49:56 PM

Quote :

"So what? this is not new. not eating before bed has been recommended for weight control and weight loss for years."

Maybe I misread and I don't feel like rereading, but I think it was saying eating at night is bad, not before bed. So someone who works a night shift has harder time burning calories since they work at night.

9/4/2009 10:47:15 PM

^I'd blame distorted circadian rhythm more than a common third shift employee's schedule. It really depends on when your time of day of fasting and time of waking is. Although, not seeing the sun for long times does rightly suck the energy out of you.

9/4/2009 11:08:58 PM

^^ touche. I missed that sentence about shift workers somehow.

But it doesn't say that they had mice on different wake/sleep schedules (which is the case of 3rd shift workers). Instead, it says that they fed them at "different times of the mice 'waking cycle'." - whatever that means exactly.

If it is focused on 3rd shift workers, how does it apply to all the obese people who work 9 to 5-ish jobs?

9/4/2009 11:29:31 PM

you can't really draw any concise conclusions from that study...I agree with everything Joie stated

9/5/2009 8:21:41 AM

I'm not sure we really have enough info. to claim the study isn't good. you're reading an article about the study, not the study itself. The study could be perfectly fine for all we know. Not that it wouldn't need to be confirmed. But you can't claim that the study is complete shit just because the article doesn't provide all the information.

9/5/2009 9:02:30 AM

I don't think these researchers are trying to draw conclusions yet, but simply realize that this studies supports that more research needs to be done.

9/5/2009 9:16:48 AM

nutrient timing is every bit as important as the breakdown of the macronutrients you eat and how much you eat.

9/5/2009 9:37:09 AM

Everyone is looking at this the wrong way. The study, if accurate, suggests that people can live off significantly less food if they eat at unusual hours.

I'm over 200 lbs and I live off a cup of coffee at 10am and one meal between 7 and 9pm each week day. During the week, my caloric intake is about 700-1200 calories. On the weekends it's more because I may have a snack around lunch time.

This should be good news for people on a budget! A PB&J and a bowl of cereal is enough to get you through a whole day.

9/5/2009 2:05:23 PM

Quote :

"I generally hate studies like this."

9/5/2009 2:46:01 PM

Quote :

"One of our research interests is shift workers, who tend to be overweight"

Lol.

9/5/2009 2:57:25 PM

oops i like only eat at unusual hours

9/5/2009 4:08:19 PM

^^yeah

aren't shift workers usually of a lower socioeconomic status? Maybe that has something to do with it as well.

9/5/2009 6:07:02 PM

^

It depends on the industry. I work at a power plant, and everyone there who works shifts doesn't fit:

Operators, load dispatchers, welders, mechanics, electrical I&C (instrumentation and controls), etc. Most of them probably make more money than I do as an engineer.

9/5/2009 10:18:52 PM

I just ate a large piece of strawberry cake, and about to head to bed soon.

9/5/2009 11:55:50 PM

Actually, a Calorie is a kilocalorie. I don't really want to think about my snicker bar being 200,000 calories, though, so I'll stick to Calories.

9/13/2009 12:24:32 AM

9/13/2009 4:38:56 AM

Quote :

"oops i like only eat at unusual hours"

IF YOU EAT ONLY AT UNUSUAL HOURS....
THEN THEY ARE USUAL HOURS
AMIRITE?

9/13/2009 1:13:59 PM

It's all about your Cortisol and ATCH counts.

In general if you feel alert then eating at that time would be better than eating at times when you feel tired and groggy.

9/15/2009 11:38:29 AM