Eating at Various Times May Have Differing Effects on a Person's Health

A new study suggests that eating at various times in the day could have differing effects on a human person's health.

The author of the study, Nina Vujovic, who is a researcher in the division of sleep and circadian disorders at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, questioned whether the time that we eat could affect our health if everything else was kept consistent.

Health Effects of Timing of Meals

The study, which was published on Tuesday in the journal Cell Metabolism, found that eating later in the day could double a person's chances of being hungrier. The researchers said that they found that eating four hours later makes a significant difference to people's hunger levels.

This also includes significant changes to the way we burn calories after we eat and the way we store fat. Vujovic added that together, these changes explain why eating late is associated with increased obesity risk reported by other studies and provide new biological insight into the underlying mechanisms of the condition.

The study provides some support for the concept that circadian rhythm, which influences key physiologic functions like the body's temperature and heart rate, affects how our bodies absorb fuel, said the researchers, as per CNN.

Furthermore, the results of the study show that eating at a later time results in 'an increase in hunger, impacts hormones, and also changes gene expression." The latter is especially seen in terms of fat metabolism with a tendency towards less fat breakdown and more fat deposition, said Dr. Bhanu Prakash Kolla.

Kolla is a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and a consultant to Mayo's Center for Sleep Medicine and Division of Addiction Medicine. While previous studies linked late eating to weight gain, the latest study did not measure weight loss and is not able to show a causal link, Kolla said.

According to Silive, the director of the Medical Chronobiology Program in Brigham's Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Dr. Frank Scheer, and another author of the study, said the researchers wanted to test the mechanisms to figure out why eating late increases the risk of obesity.

Risk of Obesity

The researchers monitored a group of 16 patients with a body mass index in the overweight or obese range. They carefully managed the participants to avoid other causes of weight gain to keep the study controlled.

The participants of the study completed two protocols, one with an early meal schedule at 8:00 a.m., noon, and 4:00 p.m., and the other with a schedule for eating about four hours later in the day over the course of six days. They also maintained a strict sleeping schedule leading up to the research.

The researchers took frequent blood samples of the participants and carefully measured temperature and energy expenditure throughout the study. They also collected fat tissue to see how gene expression changed based on eating habits.

The calories that the participants consumed at each meal were also morning loaded or evening loaded by a percentage of daily intake. Participants who had heftier morning meals had a lower self-reported appetite and hunger, The Hill reported.