A new study has looked into the connection between metabolism, circadian rhythms and meal times, reveling that eating outside of our body's natural rhythms can disrupt crucial metabolic processes like insulin secretion and glucose processing. Not only this, but it can result in weight gain.
Looking into the field of chrononutrition, which explores how meal times impact our health beyond just what or how much we eat, the study by researchers at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea, published in Physiology & Behavior, found that late-night eating can have severe implications for metabolic health and significantly increase obesity risk. This specifically applies after 9pm.
The research also suggests consuming more calories during breakfast promotes weight loss compared to doing so at dinner. The study looked at data from 9,474 Korean men and women adults whose average age is 54, providing a comprehensive look at how meal timings, sleep duration, and body weight interact.
The study also took account specific hormonal factors such as menopausal status in women. It found that eating high-calorie foods like burgers late at night can throw off our biological clock and heighten the risk of obesity. Over three and a half years of follow-up, researchers discovered that those who ate after 9pm were 20% more likely to develop obesity. This risk was even higher in men where a 34% increase was observed compared to other groups.
