Can you lose weight by changing your meal times?

We have known for some time that altering meal times can affect weight and metabolism.

At least if you are a mouse.

According to some studies with these animals, it seems that the secret of better health is in restricting the period of time in which we eat and, thus, extending the time that you are without eating.

A few years ago, Professor Satchidananda Panda, the world famous Salk Institute in California (USA), showed that mice fed a high-fat diet for eight hours were healthier and leaner than those following the same diet but they were allowed to eat when they wanted. .

In a more recent study, the same researchers subjected hundreds of mice of different sizes to daily fasts for 12 to 15 hours.

Again, they found that mice that went at least 12 hours without eating remained healthier and leaner than those that ate the same number of calories, but spread out throughout the day.

But to what extent will this technique work in humans?

To find out, the BBC Trust Me I’m a Doctor recruited 16 volunteers for a 10-week investigation, led by Dr. Jonathan Johnston of the University of Surrey in England.

His team measured the volunteers’ body fat, sugar (triglyceride), and cholesterol levels at the start of the study, and then randomly divided into two groups, the blue team and the red team.

A blue group – the control group – asked them to continue with their normal habits.

But the red team was told to continue their normal diet but to eat breakfast 90 minutes later and 90 minutes before dinner.

That meant that for three hours every day, they would be without food (fasting).

They kept a food and sleep diary, sure they ate the same amount of food as usual.

Can You Really Lower Cholesterol Without Medication Just By Changing Our Food?

Well, there are two possible reasons.

First of all, today there are many studies that show that spending more time without eating, fasting, is beneficial.

It also seems that our body handles calories better at certain times of the day.

According to Johnston, one of the worst times to eat sugar and fat is late at night, when blood levels of these substances are already high.

To prove it, I decided to do a rather unpleasant self-experiment.

After an overnight fast I took some blood samples, and at 10 am I had a typical British breakfast: lots of bacon, eggs, and sausage.

I did some blood work right after breakfast and every half hour for the next few hours. And yes, it was painful.

12 hours later, at 10 pm, I ate my second meal of the day, exactly what he had for breakfast.

Again, I took regular blood samples for the next several hours until I finally got to bed.

A midnight snack will have a negative impact on your body if you eat it during the day.

Blood tests showed that after breakfast my sugar levels returned to normal fairly quickly and fat levels started to drop after almost three hours.

However, at night, after eating the exact same meal, my blood sugar levels stayed high for much longer and the fat levels stayed several hours after I finished eating.

So Johnston was right; our bodies really do NOT like having to deal with large amounts of food late at night.

A midnight snack will have a worse impact on your body if you eat the same and the same amount earlier in the day.

There is an old saying: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a poor man,” which seems to be true.

If you are eating fried, it is best to eat it for breakfast.