Does it matter what time you eat?
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Side Steel might be wrong.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/really-timing-of-meals-affects-weight-loss/?src=recg
Study used self reported intake and rather heavily flawed expenditure estimates to arrive at 2.2kg difference in weight over 5 months. Find me an example using tighter controls on energy balance and I'd happily consider it as strong evidence against my claim.
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You may be right. But, one can always quibble about some minor aspect of methodology. It needs to be replicated. In the meantime, I am not so sure we can make unqualified, categorical claims.
Alternatively one can look at more than one study and note that there's not a whole lot of compelling research to indicate that it matters to any significant degree.
Until you can show that it matters to one degree or another through replicated research then I don't take issue with a "it's not going to really matter" in a population that is keeping energy intake monitored and preferential aspects of dieting in mind.0 -
Fair enough. But, if there is so much compelling evidence that timing of meals makes no difference, then why did the researchers decide to waste time and money looking at it?0
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Fair enough. But, if there is so much compelling evidence that timing of meals makes no difference, then why did the researchers decide to waste time and money looking at it?
I wouldn't say there's "so much compelling evidence that its irrelevant" -- I would say that there's not a whole lot of compelling evidence that it IS relevant to any significant degree, and certainly not to any degree that is strong enough to recommend a nutrient timing protocol that violates the dieters personal preferences.
To my knowledge, and I don't claim to have seen every study, when energy balance is under tight control the differences are insignificant and thermodynamics would agree with this.
As far as why the studies are done, I haven't the first clue about that honestly.0 -
Side Steel might be wrong.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/really-timing-of-meals-affects-weight-loss/?src=recg
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/behindtheheadlines/news/2013-01-30-its-not-what-you-eat-its-when-you-eat-part-2/
excerptIt is worth noting that only early and late lunchtime habits were associated with differences in weight loss, not breakfast or dinner.
The authors’ noted that around 40% of the total daily calories of the Mediterranean diet the participants consumed were at lunch, so this was the main meal of the day. This may be different from other countries, where dinner may be the main meal of the day. As such, the results may not be directly applicable to people in other countries, including the UK.
As this was an observational study, we cannot say that eating an early lunch caused those people to lose weight, only that the two appear linked in some way. As other behavioural or biological factors may influence when a person chooses to eat their lunch, there may be other factors involved in the link between mealtime and weight loss.
This well designed study raises some intriguing questions about how the timing of a meal relates to weight loss success.0 -
I remember reading a summary of that study, if I remember correctly:
1. Similar calories isn't identical calories. I think the difference in groups was about 5 lbs over 5 months. That's about a 116 calories a day, and it was "self-reporting". +/- 116 calories could easily be considered "similar" and still account for a 5 lbs differance over 5 months.
2. 116 calories could also easily be people mis-recording. If the early group underestimated calories by 63 calories a day and the late group overestimates by 63 calories that would be all that was needed.
3. When did they weight themselves? Did eating late lunch mean a later dinner? If eating a late dinner then weighing right after obviously they would weigh more. Even if weighing in the morning, a later dinner can effect a morning weight in. For example, I eat a very large late dinner, and weigh myself first thing in the morning. However I know I weight my least around 11 o'clock.
4. Finally, the study focuses on lunch not dinner as the main meal, we are talking about eating LUNCH before or after 3. We on the other hand are talking about eating dinner before bed, and the study makes no reference to what the subjects ate for dinner or when.
Even is the study is perfectly accurate and eating earlier really will result in 5 lbs over 5 months, if it's easier to stick with your diet and eat later so you don't have to go to bed hungry, wouldn't ease of adherence be more important than less than potentially losing an extra 1/4 lbs or 4 oz of weight a week?0 -
Your body can't tell what time it is, but what your body does know is the calorie intake, what you're actually eating and your activity level for that day. Thats what matters more than anything... this is what determines if you lose, gain or maintain
and if you're looking for a late night snack try to remember the calories you've consumed throughout the day and if its worth it
hope this helped!0 -
no.
disclaimer: *sorry crankstr*0 -
bump0
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I lost 100 pounds eating at different times - most very late. Not an issue!0
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not an issue. the only time i'm careful about meal timing is when it might run into a workout. i simply cant workout well when i'm in full on digestive mode0
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