Researchers have taken note of the connection between eating time, gaining weight, sleep, obesity, and diabetes. Although the connection between these factors is evident, it needs to be better understood by the public. Therefore, this article aims to bring this subject closer to you and help you understand the mechanism behind late night eating and obesity.
Scientific Approach to Hunger
Recent research has shown an effect between late-night eating and the three crucial contributors to obesity: calorie intake regulation, number of burned calories, and changes in fat tissue at the molecular level.
Eating time significantly impacts energy expenditure, appetite, and molecular path in fat tissues.
Research proves the thesis that late eating is directly linked to an increased risk of obesity and body fat and lessened weight loss results. Additionally, research suggests that late eating notably influences hunger levels, the process of calorie burning after eating, and how the body stores fat.
Hunger Hormones
The impact of late eating on appetite is explained by its effect on hunger hormones ghrelin and leptin, which triggers the drive to eat. It was noticed that leptin, which signals satiety, was decreased for the next 24 hours due to late eating. This is also one of the reasons why people lack intended results and question, “why am I not losing weight on Ozempic,” as its side effects are proven to reduce weight. Although Ozempic suppresses appetite with its active ingredient, the GPL-1 hormone, the weight loss effect is reduced due to bad dieting habits such as late eating or disturbance of the internal clock.
Late eating also decreased calorie burning rate. As the energy release is regulated by internal clocks that control energy balance, it indicates that disturbing a body clock results in a disturbance of metabolism. What is more, body clock sensitivity is particular when it comes to fat tissue.
Some research on animals has shown that obese animals tend to eat more at a time when they should be asleep.
From the aspect of storing fat, late eating affects the adipose tissue gene to increase adipogenesis while reducing lipolysis. This mechanism is known for donating to fat growth.
Scrambling The Internal Clock
The impact of eating time on weight was performed on mice in a study. In the study, one group of mice was fed a high-fat diet during a period of their inactivity, while the other mice group was fed during their activity period. The experiment results deliver that mice fed during their sleep period gained more weight than those fed when they were active.
Late Night Eating
Another study has performed research on two groups of 8 individuals. The participants had the same diet but were divided into two research groups. The first group had their first meal early in the morning and their last meal six hours and forty minutes before sleep. The second group had their meals about hours after the first group, meaning they skipped breakfast and had a launch, dinner, and evening meal. They had a last meal only two and a half hours before sleep.
For both groups, the same metrics for measuring appetite were conducted to determine the impact of late eating on appetite. These metrics consider two techniques:
- Participants rated their hunger levels throughout the day.
- Blood samples were taken from participants to measure the levels of appetite hormones leptin (a hormone that provides a feeling of satiety) and ghrelin (a hormone that promotes hunger)
Another aspect that scientists wanted to determine is the impact of eating time on energy expenditure. To assess this effect, researchers have used the technique “indirect calorimetry.” This method considers measuring the oxygen level that participants use and their carbon dioxide production. These measurements help estimate calorie usage throughout the day for each participant.
The third aspect of the late-night eating impact that interested researchers are molecular changes in fat tissue. This examination considered taking the abdominal fat tissue for a biopsy, to which half of the participants agreed.
Results:
The research teams have concluded that late eating triggered the secretion of the hunger hormone ghrelin and the decrease of leptin which is in charge of the feeling of fullness. This caused participants with late meals to feel hungrier the next day, which consequently led to overeating. Additionally, the participants had fewer calories burned the next day. For those participants in the late-eating group, who agreed to a biopsy, it’s shown that their abdominal tissue has manifested molecular changes that increased fat storage.
The comprehensive report of this research has provided evidence that late eating leads to changes in physiological and molecular levels which further leads to weight gain.
Summary
Besides the mentioned research, many other theories suggest the link between late night eating and weight gain, such as the theory of circadian rhythm. Nonetheless, all the studies, although with different approaches to this subject, suggest that mealtime disturbance and late-night eating cause a higher body weight, energy disbalance, reduction of energy expenditure, and increased risks of various metabolic disorders.
Studies provide extensive evidence of the impact of late night eating on body weight and indicate that having a healthy body considers not only a balanced diet but regular meal timing as well.
