The time you eat directly affects energy expenditure, appetite, and also the process of adipose tissue growth. The discovery was made by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston (USA), and was published in an article in the scientific journal Cell Metabolism, on Tuesday (4).

The team already knew, based on previous studies, that eating later had an effect on weight gain, but they wanted to understand the mechanisms involved in this behavior.

“We’ve found that eating after four hours makes a significant difference in our levels of hunger, the way we burn calories after eating, and the way we store fat,” said Dr. .

The work involved observing 16 patients with a body mass index (BMI) in the overweight or obese range. They were divided into two groups with different feeding protocols.

The first adopted a strictly defined time for the first meals of the day. The second received the same meals, but four hours later.

They were also instructed in the preceding 3 weeks of follow-up to maintain consistent bedtime and wake-up times. In the three days before the study began, they were already on the same diet that would be used.

In the lab, they regularly documented hunger and appetite, as well as providing blood samples throughout the day, body temperature data, and energy expenditure.

By analyzing the results of blood samples, the scientists determined that the group that ate later had altered levels of leptin and ghrelin, two hormones that regulate appetite and influence our desire to eat more.

The hormone leptin, which indicates satiety, decreased over a 24-hour period among those who ate later, compared to the group who maintained earlier meal times.

The late eating group also burned calories at a slower rate and “showed gene expression in adipose tissue to increase lipogenesis and reduce lipolysis,” effectively meaning they had an easier time growing fat.

This is the first time that scientists have identified converging physiological and molecular mechanisms linking late eating to an increased risk of obesity.

The group plans to conduct further studies to look at other variables that may be associated with meal times.

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