Meal time and weight loss: Are they really linked?

It is very evident that healthy eating is key to effective weight loss. A diet full of essential nutrients with the right type of exercise can accelerate the weight loss process.
But a recent research has suggested that your food timing can also play a major role in your weight loss plan.

The study

Dr. Jonathan Johnston, from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, conducted a research to study the impact of changing meal times on dietary intake, body composition, and biomarkers for diabetes and heart disease.

The study was conducted on 16 participants, who were divided into two groups. People belonging to the first group were asked to have breakfast 90 minutes later than their normal timing and dinner 90 minutes prior to their night time meal.

The other group was asked to have their meals on their regular timings. Apart from this, no other dietary restriction was imposed on them and everyone followed their diet plan.

The researcher even collected blood samples of all the participants at a regular interval throughout the study.

The result

It was found that the participants of the first group, who modified their meal timing lost more than twice as much excess body fat as compared to the people belonging to the second category.

The researchers even noticed that the participants belonging to the experimental group ate less food during the meal. The participant felt this themselves and said that they ate less due to decreased appetite, leading to low craving to snack in the evening.

Dr. Johnston said that the study suggests that changing mealtime can help to lose weight. However, the difference is very minimal.