Want to Lose Weight? This Might Help!
A new study revealed that early eating, eating a very early dinner, or even skipping dinner, may have some benefits for losing weight.
This key finding is confirmed by Courtney Peterson, PhD, who led the study at Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
Peterson said, “Eating between 8 am and 2 pm followed by an 18-hour daily fast kept appetite levels more even throughout the day, in comparison to eating between 8 am and 8 pm, which is what the median American does.”
In addition, eating only during a smaller window of time, otherwise known as early time-restricted feeding (eTRF) helps in weight loss.
The findings were unveiled during an oral presentation today at The Obesity Society Annual Meeting at ObesityWeek 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The Study and Results
The researchers invited eleven men and women with excess weight to be respondents in the study.
For four days, the researchers monitored the respondents by allowing them to eat between 8am and 2pm (eTRF). Another four days were also allotted for the respondents to eat between 8am and 8pm.
The researchers then tested the impact of eTRF on calories burned, fat burned and appetite. In addition, the researchers also allowed all participants to have same eating schedules, eat the same number of calories both times, and complete rigorous testing under supervision.
Now, here are the interesting results!
The researchers found that although eTRF did not affect how many calories participants burned, it curbed daily hunger pangs and increased fat burning during several hours at night. Other interesting results include an improved metabolic flexibility, which is the body’s ability to switch between burning carbs and fats.
The Explanation
The researchers explained how eTRF helps in losing body fat. One explanation suggests that our body has an internal clock, and many aspects of metabolism are at their ideal functioning in the morning. Thus, eating in alignment with the body’s circadian clock by eating earlier in the day can influence health and metabolism.
