If I ask you, what time of day is eating chocolate the most fattening? Maybe you'll tell me it doesn't matter. What is important is the fats, sugars and calories we consume. But you will see that, in reality,
it doesn't matter
.
There is an area of science that is responsible for studying the interaction between food and our circadian clock - that internal biological clock that regulates and orders our body temperature, our level of hormones, our pressure, our sleep -: it is chrononutrition
.
. And this in turn is part of a broader area, that of chronobiology.
Chrononutrition is a new field. It has been discovered that our circadian clock also influences our emotions, our desire to eat and
how we break down the food
we eat. This is how circadian rhythms affect our health in general, but also our body weight.
Traditionally, studies on weight regulation have focused almost exclusively
on what and how much we eat
. Let's take the example of chocolate again: how many calories and how many grams.
The “when” question
began to arise about 15 years ago, with the emergence of a series of animal studies linking circadian rhythms with weight gain.
You know that mice live the opposite way we do: they are awake at night and they sleep during the day. So what did a group of researchers do? They fed them during the day and strikingly observed that they gained more weight than those who ate at night, that is, at their usual time. The results of that study opened the door to other work in humans.
Video
Myths and truths about eating at night. By nutritionist Mónica Katz.
In fact, just years later in Spain, research showed that participants who ate lunch after three in the afternoon
gained more weight
than those who ate earlier.
Therefore, what we began to see is that you not only gain weight when you eat more calories but also when you do so much later because you do not metabolize fat as quickly, which
favors the accumulation
, your sugar rises more and insulin (which form fat), too.
In short, everything that can help you have a good weight
gets worse
if you have dinner after 7 in the afternoon.
How is this explained? Today's lifestyle with
constant access to food and activities
at all hours can disrupt the healthy functioning of the circadian rhythm.
We are not mice
The question then is: can we take all this into account when eating?
Yesterday I asked my husband to come home earlier for dinner, but he took longer than ever due to an important meeting and traffic on the road.
Science advances. There is more and more evidence of what is good and bad for our health, but
we can't always
stick to it. We are not lab rats eating under controlled conditions.
Chrononutrition studies the interaction between food and our circadian clock. Photo Shutterstock
The best thing is to find a balance and balance is
doing the best we can most of the time
.
There is evidence that in addition to the quantity and nutrient content of foods, the timing of meals throughout the day must be taken into account. The old recommendation of "eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and
dinner like a pauper
" is still valid.
Without a doubt,
eating earlier and doing it in the right portion
is the best for you, if what you are looking for is a healthy and comfortable body. Remember, anyway, that it is not the last supper.
***
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