Eat Lunch Early and Lose Weight!
(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Trying to lose weight can be awful; you do all the right things but the pounds stay put. Now researchers think they have discovered a significant factor in not only how much weight people lose, but how fast the weight is lost as well. The study says that early eaters lose weight more effectively than individuals who take their meals later on in the day.
The study was carried out by researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital along with the University of Murcia and Tufts University, who followed 420 overweight individuals for 20 weeks during a weight loss program in Spain. Participants were labeled as either early eaters, classified as having lunch before 3pm, or late eaters, who had lunch after 3pm.
Researchers found that participants who typically ate earlier in the day lost more weight and had a faster rate of weight loss than those who ate lunch later. Early eaters also had a higher estimated sensitivity to insulin; low insulin sensitivity is associated with an increased risk of diabetes.
"This study emphasizes that the timing of food intake itself may play a significant role in weight regulation,” lead study author Marta Garaulet, Ph.D., professor of Physiology at the University of Murcia Spain was quoted as saying.
It was also determined that late eaters were less likely to eat breakfast or eat less for breakfast than early eaters, which could possibly play a role in why late eaters have a more difficult time losing weight.
For individuals battling with their waistline, this new information could change their whole approach to losing weight.
"Novel therapeutic strategies should incorporate not only the caloric intake and macronutrient distribution, as it is classically done, but also the timing of food,” Professor Garaulet was quoted as saying.
Source: International Journal of Obesity, 29 January 2013
