Few things hit the spot more than a late-night bite to eat. While it tastes good going down, that midnight snack can also have health consequences.
Scientists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston recently studied the simultaneous effects of late eating on three main factors that affect body weight regulation. They found that when food is eaten greatly affects appetite, energy expenditure and molecular pathways in fat tissue.
In the case of midnight snacking, that translates into increased hunger, fewer calories burned and negative changes in fat tissue — all of which can boost the risk of obesity.
The latest findings build on earlier results showing that eating in the wee hours is associated with more body fat and less weight-loss success. This time, the researchers wanted to understand why that’s so.
To do that, they studied a group of overweight and obese patients. Each participant completed two regimens. One of the experiments included an early meal schedule. The other experiment featured the same meals served four hours later. Participants documented their appetites and hunger levels and gave frequent blood samples.
It turns out that eating four hours later made a significant difference in hunger levels, the way calories are burned and how fat is stored. That’s due in part to how late eating affects two hormones that influence the desire to eat. One of those hormones, which creates a feeling of fullness, was less abundant among the study’s late eaters.
Those who ate later also burned calories more slowly and were more prone to gene activity that promotes fat growth.
So, as unrelenting as the after-hours siren call of your refrigerator can be, tuning it out may help keep your weight in check.