New Delhi: If you eat whenever you are hungry, or if you have no fixed time for meals then it’s time that you start worrying for your health.
According to the study at UT South-western Medical Centre, Dallas, Texas (USA) eating at 'wrong time' affects body weight and circadian rhythms drastically.
As per the study a new high-precision feeding system for lab mice reinforces the idea that the time of the day food is eaten is more critical to weight loss than the amount of calories ingested.
Eating at the ‘wrong time of day’ – i.e. outside the hours when you’re active – can pile on the pounds, and also reduce your lifespan, a study found. Experts say the time when meals are eaten is more important than the number of calories consumed, based on a mouse study.
Scientists made 5 different groups of mice to study the effect which the body faces as per the timing of the meals intake. During the study, the researchers observed that mice that were fed a high-fat diet during normal sleeping hours gained significantly more weight than those given the same type and amount of food during naturally wakeful hours.
Referring to recent studies, the researchers said that the body’s internal clock regulates energy use and that is why the timing of meals might be crucial to balancing caloric intake and expenditure.
Mice on a reduced calorie plan that ate only during their normal feeding/active cycle were the only ones among five groups to lose weight, despite consuming the same amount as another group fed during their rest time in daylight.
Some factors are under circadian control. Better timing of meals, which would require a change in behaviour, could be a critical element in slowing the ever-increasing incidence of obesity.
Study co-author and holder of the Loyd B. Sands Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience Dr Joseph Takahashi said: ‘Translated into human behaviour, these studies suggest that dieting will only be effective if calories are consumed during the daytime when we are awake and active.
‘They further suggest that eating at the wrong time at night will not lead to weight loss even when dieting.’
Among the findings published in Cell Metabolism, scientists documented how mice on a diet reduced their eating to a very short time period and were unexpectedly active during the day -- the normal rest period for the nocturnal animals.
These data reveal previously unknown relationships among feeding, metabolism, and behavior.
Using high-tech sensors and automated feeding equipment, scientists developed the feeding system to help answer the difficult question of why calorie-restricted diets improve longevity. They say the new set of tools has already offered fresh insights.
Despite the importance of these factors, manipulating when and how much food is available for extended periods has been difficult in past research. This automated system, which can be scaled up for large and very long longevity studies, provides the means to address open questions about what mechanisms extend lifespan in mammals, and whether it is actually the calorie reduction or the time at which food is consumed that extends lifespan.
Besides affecting weight, scientists believe the timing of food consumption affects one's circadian rhythms and may be the route by which dietary habits impact lifespan and therefore recommend all to eat on time.