Study states meal time can impact the amount of energy burned
| Nov 13, 2018, 15:59 IST
A new study has found that the number of calories people burn can depend on what time of the day it is. Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the US conducted the research that found that people are more likely to burn 10% more calories in the late afternoon and early evening than in the early morning hours. This study could help figure out why eating and sleeping irregularities could cause a gain in weight.
“The fact that doing the same thing at one time of day burned so many more calories than doing the same thing at a different time of day surprised us,” said Kirsi-Marja Zitting from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The researchers studied seven people in a laboratory. These people were not made aware of what time it was outside. They were asked to eat and sleep at particular times. Each night, those times were adjusted to four hours later.
“Because they were doing the equivalent of circling the globe every week, their body’s internal clock could not keep up, and so it oscillated at its own pace,” said Jeanne Duffy from Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “This allowed us to measure metabolic rate at all different biological times of day,” Duffy said. “It is not only what we eat, but when we eat -- and rest -- that impacts how much energy we burn or store as fat,” Duffy said. “Regularity of habits such as eating and sleeping is very important to overall health,” he concluded.
“The fact that doing the same thing at one time of day burned so many more calories than doing the same thing at a different time of day surprised us,” said Kirsi-Marja Zitting from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The researchers studied seven people in a laboratory. These people were not made aware of what time it was outside. They were asked to eat and sleep at particular times. Each night, those times were adjusted to four hours later.
“Because they were doing the equivalent of circling the globe every week, their body’s internal clock could not keep up, and so it oscillated at its own pace,” said Jeanne Duffy from Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “This allowed us to measure metabolic rate at all different biological times of day,” Duffy said. “It is not only what we eat, but when we eat -- and rest -- that impacts how much energy we burn or store as fat,” Duffy said. “Regularity of habits such as eating and sleeping is very important to overall health,” he concluded.