Those Midnight Snacks May Be Worse For You Than You Think
September 16th, 2009 | by admin |As a chiropractor, I always advise my overweight patients to lose those extra pounds because, in addition to causing back, hip, and knee pain, and other joint problems that will require chiropractic treatment, excessive weight can create a number of other health issues, including diabetes and heart disease. But, as important as losing excess weight is, as anyone who’s tried to lose weight knows, it isn’t easy and dieting doesn’t work. A healthy lifestyle that includes good nutrition and regular exercise is a very important. New research, however, has discovered why some people find it harder than others to shed excess poundage. According to a new study done on mice, eating at the ‘wrong’ time of day may cause excessive weight gain.
The mice in the study that were fed when they would normally be asleep put on more weight than others given the same meals during their normal waking hours. However, the mice that were given a high-fat diet during the time they would typically eat gained only 20 percent in weight over six weeks. In contrast, the mice fed the same high-fat diet during hours they should have been sleeping packed on 48 percent more during the same time period.
The research team discovered that altering the feeding time, by itself, changed the animal’s body weight. Mice fed during their regular sleeping hours gained more weight than mice that ate during their normal awake hours. “I think sleep has a very important role in metabolism,” says Deanna Arble, a neuroscientist at Northwestern University’s Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology and the lead study author. She thinks the research may have implications for humans as well as mice: “For someone not consuming excess calories each day, and they’re doing everything by the book but still gain weight, maybe look into the time of day you’re eating. It could be a factor,” she advises.
Full study published in the journal, Obesity
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