A new study states that for people trying to lose weight, when they eat is as important if not more important than what they eat.
"Eat breakfast like a King, lunch like a Queen and dinner like a beggar," is a time-old golden rule. Now, a new study gives credence to the famous old saying. When you eat is a key element in effectivly losing weight. According to researchers, people who eat their meals early lose weight faster than those who eat later in the day.
"This was the first long-term large-scale study to really demonstrate that the timing of meals can predict weight-loss effectiveness," said one of the authors of the study, Frank Scheer, director of the Medical Chronobiology Program and associate neuroscientist at the hospital.
The study was conducted on 420 overweight participants and went on for 20 weeks. All the participants were put on a specific weight loss program. The study was carried out in Spain's University of Murcia, Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and Tufts University in Medford, Mass.
All participants were divided into two groups depending on the time they ate their heaviest meal. Most participants in Spain opted for lunch being their heaviest meal where they consumed 40 percent of their calories for the day. A benchmark was set that all people who ate lunch after 3 p.m. were considered late eaters while those who ate lunch before 3 p.m. were early eaters.
It was found that early eaters lost approximately 25 percent more weight while late eaters were found to either skip or consume fewer calories during breakfast. This led to them having a low insulin sensitivity which could lead to diabetics.
"What the study does is that it emphasizes that we should start thinking, not only about what we eat but also when we eat," said Scheer. "It may be that we can improve, using this novel concept, existing dietary interventions in the battle against obesity."
However, Scheer also clarified that this weight-loss program is not effective for everyone. He pointed out that this method could only help a person temporarily and may not work in the long run.
The findings were published Tuesday in the International Journal of Obesity.
