Want to Lose Weight? Check When You Eat

People aiming to lose weight are often endlessly concerned about the question of 'what to eat.' A new study has found that this might not be the right question, or at least not the only one: when we eat, it turns out, is just as important as what we eat.

A study from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center found that two groups of mice on a low-calorie diet did not achieve the same weight results: only the mice that ate during their natural eating times (for mice, during active periods) lost weight. The other mice, who consumed not a single additional calorie but also ate during their rest periods, maintained or even gained weight.

"Translating these findings to human behavior, the study shows that a diet will only be successful if eating occurs during the day, when we are awake and active. The study suggests that eating at the wrong time, at night, will not lead to weight loss," says one of the researchers, Dr. Joseph Takahashi.

Besides the impact on weight, researchers believe that meal timing affects the circadian rhythm and that this may be the reason why good dietary habits contribute to longer lifespans. For the group of mice fed during their natural rest times, unusual activity was observed at night, suggesting that they developed chronic sleep deprivation due to the change in meal times. The unnatural nocturnal alertness was observed both in mice that received a low-calorie diet during rest hours and those given a normal diet at rest times. Chronic sleep deprivation and a disrupted circadian rhythm, researchers say, can certainly lead to a shorter lifespan in the end.