CONSUMING most of your calories in the earlier part of the day helps to maintain leanness, according to a new study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) annual conference in Boston.
In a 20-week trial involving 420 people, those who ate a late lunch lost less weight than those who ate an earlier lunch. Why does meal timing make a difference if you consume the same amount of calories overall each day? It comes down to the mechanics of diet-induced thermogenesis (the amount of energy needed to digest and assimilate a meal, generally 7-10% of calories consumed) which is lower at night. In addition, the circadian rhythms that drive hunger are also stronger at night compared to morning.