2527: [Part 1] Is Eating Late at Night Bad for Weight Loss? by Christian Finn of Muscle Evo on Meal Timing

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[00:00:54] This is Optimal Health Daily, Episode 2527.

[00:00:58] It's Eating Late at Night Bad for Weight Loss.

[00:01:01] Part 1 by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net.

[00:01:04] And I'm Dr. Neal.

[00:01:06] Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily, where I simply read to you from the best health and fitness blogs for free.

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[00:01:43] and then finish up the rest for you tomorrow.

[00:01:45] So with that, let's hear part 1 as we optimize your life.

[00:01:50] Is Eating Late at Night Bad for Weight Loss?

[00:01:56] Part 1 by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net.

[00:02:00] Tapering down your calorie intake over the course of the day,

[00:02:04] eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince,

[00:02:07] and dinner like a popper,

[00:02:09] is thought by many to lead to a faster rate of weight loss.

[00:02:13] The idea is that calories eaten in the evening are more likely to be stored as fat

[00:02:18] compared to eating those very same calories earlier in the day.

[00:02:22] However, you'll also find people who recommend the opposite,

[00:02:26] claiming that a large dinner will help rather than hurt your body composition.

[00:02:31] So who's right?

[00:02:32] Do calories become more fattening if you eat them later in the day,

[00:02:36] or is eating your largest meal at night the way forward?

[00:02:40] Late Night Eating and Weight Loss

[00:02:43] The idea that eating a meal late at night puts the brakes on weight loss

[00:02:46] appears to come from a couple of studies published in the 1970s.

[00:02:50] They showed that subjects lost weight when a single daily meal was eaten in the morning.

[00:02:55] When the same meal was eaten in the evening, weight was lost more slowly.

[00:03:00] In some cases, subjects actually gained weight.

[00:03:03] Unfortunately, these studies didn't last very long.

[00:03:06] On average, they lasted 1-3 weeks.

[00:03:09] And information about how the research was done is very hard to come by.

[00:03:14] Critically, we don't know if the subjects were closely supervised in a metabolic ward

[00:03:19] or if they were simply given instructions on what to eat and then left to their own devices.

[00:03:24] The potential for unreported dietary deviations skewing the results

[00:03:29] is far greater with the latter than it is with the former.

[00:03:33] There is also observational research reporting a link between

[00:03:36] the number of calories consumed in the evening and a higher body mass index, or BMI.

[00:03:42] However, observational studies tell you nothing about cause and effect.

[00:03:47] They might show a link between eating late at night and weight gain,

[00:03:51] but they don't show that one is causing the other.

[00:03:54] A number of controlled trials have looked at how the distribution of calories throughout the day

[00:03:59] affects your body composition.

[00:04:01] The ones we'll be looking at are those that are the best designed,

[00:04:05] or are cited most frequently,

[00:04:07] to prove or disprove the effectiveness of one particular dietary approach versus another.

[00:04:13] Greater weight loss with high-carb dinner.

[00:04:17] First up, we have a study showing that eating a larger, carbohydrate-rich meal later in the day

[00:04:22] helps rather than hinders weight loss.

[00:04:25] Here's how it was set up.

[00:04:27] A group of 78 obese police officers were assigned to one of two groups.

[00:04:32] Both groups were prescribed the same diet.

[00:04:35] The only difference was in the way carbohydrate intake was distributed throughout the day.

[00:04:40] In group A, most of the carbohydrate for the day was eaten at dinner.

[00:04:44] In group B, carbohydrate was spread evenly throughout the day.

[00:04:48] Interestingly, the carbohydrate for dinner group lost an average of 25.5 pounds or about 11.6 kilograms.

[00:04:57] Subjects in the control group who spread their carbohydrate intake over the course of the day

[00:05:02] lost 20 pounds or about 9.1 kilograms.

[00:05:06] The carbohydrate for dinner group also experienced much less hunger than the control group.

[00:05:12] The researchers think that this dietary pattern affects both leptin and ghrelin levels

[00:05:17] the following day, enhancing satiety, reducing hunger, and making it easier to stick to the diet.

[00:05:24] The carbohydrate for dinner group also saw better improvements in markers of inflammation,

[00:05:29] insulin sensitivity, and blood sugar control.

[00:05:33] This study does show a clear benefit to eating more carbohydrate at night,

[00:05:37] but the difference was still relatively small, amounting to 5.5 pounds or about 2.5 kilograms

[00:05:44] over a six-month period, or less than 1.1 pounds or about half a kilogram per month.

[00:05:51] What's more, the prescribed diet was relatively low in protein.

[00:05:55] Had both groups eaten more protein, which itself can help with hunger control,

[00:06:00] the difference in weight loss between the two groups may have been even smaller.

[00:06:04] Also, nobody in this study was following any kind of structured training program,

[00:06:09] so we don't know how exercise would have affected the results.

[00:06:13] Big breakfast boosts weight loss.

[00:06:16] Two years later, a follow-up study appeared, this time with a completely different set of results.

[00:06:22] That is, a big breakfast and small dinner led to a faster rate of weight loss

[00:06:27] than a small breakfast and large dinner.

[00:06:30] For the study, researchers assigned a set of overweight and obese subjects to one of two groups.

[00:06:36] The first group ate progressively smaller meals over the course of the day.

[00:06:40] Breakfast contained 700 calories, lunch 500 calories, and dinner just 200 calories.

[00:06:48] The second group did the exact opposite.

[00:06:51] They ate a small breakfast, 200 calories, and a large dinner, 700 calories.

[00:06:57] After 12 weeks, here's what happened.

[00:07:00] Hear that on tomorrow's episode.

[00:07:06] You just listened to part 1 of the post titled

[00:07:09] Is Eating Late at Night Bad for Weight Loss by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net

[00:07:15] I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:08:39] Here's your first slide in North America.

[00:08:41] You don't just go for a road trip, UATV, and zip line through the jungle.

[00:08:46] You don't just go somewhere new.

[00:08:48] You repel down waterfalls and discover ancient temples

[00:08:51] because this isn't just any vacation.

[00:08:53] This is all the vacations.

[00:08:55] Come seek the Royal Caribbean.

[00:08:58] Ships registry Bahamas.

[00:09:00] Dr. Neal here for my commentary.

[00:09:02] Alright, so far, clear as mud, right?

[00:09:06] Don't we just love it when scientific studies seem to contradict each other?

[00:09:10] But what's so great about the article I just read to you

[00:09:13] is that Christian takes us through their thought process.

[00:09:17] As they read these studies,

[00:09:19] we heard how Christian interpreted the study findings

[00:09:22] and any potential pros and cons of the way the studies were conducted.

[00:09:27] For example, was the study following participants for a long period of time

[00:09:32] or was the study done really quickly, like over one to two weeks?

[00:09:36] This matters because if we're trying to create habits for a lifetime,

[00:09:40] then we need studies that follow people longer than just one to two weeks.

[00:09:45] So while it may seem like we don't really have any answers,

[00:09:48] remember that we're only halfway through the article for now

[00:09:52] and I'll finish the rest on tomorrow's episode.

[00:09:55] So with that, thank you so much for being here.

[00:09:58] Thank you for sharing this show with someone

[00:10:00] and of course I'll be back here tomorrow to finish up this post.

[00:10:03] So I'll see you there where your optimal life awaits.