When it comes to healthy eating, it is not just about what one eats but also when they eat it. Losing weight is often boiled down to simply creating a calorie deficit, which means consuming fewer calories than the body burns throughout the day. However, this is an oversimplification of the process.
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Taking to Instagram on April 21, Dr Karan Rajan, a UK-based surgeon and health content creator, explained how the timing of food influences weight loss and metabolic health while referencing a clinical study conducted in 2013.
Impact of calorie consumption based on timing
Dr Rajan shared the findings of a 2013 study where overweight women trying to lose weight were split into two groups. Both groups were kept on a similar diet with the same total calorie intake throughout the day.
However, one group had most of the calories loaded into their morning meal, and their meals were progressively lighter. The opposite was true for the second group. After 12 weeks, the first group showed significantly more progress in terms of weight loss compared to the second group.
In Dr Rajan’s words, “In a 2013 study, researchers took overweight women with metabolic syndrome and split them into two groups. Both groups ate 1400 calories per day for 12 weeks - identical total calories. Group one had a big breakfast, 700 calories for breakfast, 500 calories at lunch, and 200 at dinner, while group two had a big dinner. 200 calories at breakfast, 500 for lunch, and 700 calories at dinner.
The big breakfast group lost almost twice as much weight, 8.7 kg versus 3.6 kg. Waist circumference drops significantly more in the big breakfast group. Same calories, but opposite metabolic outcomes.”
Why loading calories early in the day helps lose weight
According to Dr Rajan, there are three major reasons why consuming more calories early in the day helps to metabolise it better and leads to less fat storage than consuming them later. They are as follows:
- Insulin sensitivity is higher in the morning. “Your cells respond better to insulin earlier in the day, meaning that glucose is cleared more efficiently,” shared the surgeon.
- Digestive enzyme secretion and gut motility are at their peak in the morning. Thus, the food gets digested better.
- The gut microbiome is more metabolically active earlier in the day.
“Eating bigger meals when your body is primed to process them makes metabolic sense. And eating very large meals when your body's winding down for sleep means you're working against your circadian rhythm,” explained Dr Rajan.
“If you eat more total calories than you burn, you'll still gain weight regardless of timing. But when you eat those calories clearly influences how your body processes them, as well as how hungry you feel and your metabolic health markers. So maybe just try a big breakfast, moderate lunch, and a light dinner to see how it makes you feel,” he suggested.
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
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