Timing of Fat Consumption Influences Body Weight & Metabolism

Decades of research has made it clear that what we eat and how much we eat have major impacts on our body weight and health.  However, little research has been done to examine the timing of what we eat and its effects on body weight and health.

New research published just a couple of days ago explored this relationship in mice. For this study, mice were fed high-fat meals either at the beginning of the day or at the end of the day and changes in body weight and body metabolism were investigated.  The results showed that mice fed a high-fat meal in the morning maintained their body's ability to respond to a variety of dietary challenges later in the day such that they maintained a normal metabolic profile.  In contrast, mice fed a high-fat meal at the end of the day were more likely to gain weight and show signs of developing the metabolic imbalances.  According to a related news story, the study researchers indicated that eating a carbohydrate-rich breakfast turned on only metabolic processes that utilized carbohydrates, while consuming a high-fat breakfast turned on metabolic processes that utilized both fat and carbohydrates, providing the mice with greater flexibility to meet daily dietary challenges.  Additionally, this story points out that the researchers believed that one of the keys to the success of this study was eating a low-calorie meal in the evening after starting the day with a high-fat breakfast.

This is truly fascinating research that will need to be further explored.  While this study showed some interesting results about what we eat when and how it effects our body weight and metabolism, additional questions remain to be answered.  For example... are the benefits of a high-fat breakfast combined with a low-calorie dinner restricted to particular types of dietary fat?  Considering that some dietary fats are less healthy than others, this might be an important question to answer.  Also... will these results in mice translate to similar benefits in people?  Previous research has shown the importance of eating breakfast and some have suggested that high-protein breakfasts might reduce appetite throughout the day.  This new study adds to the current research and emphasizes both the importance of what we eat and when we eat it.

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