You could be doing everything right, but still haunted by that stubborn fat. A recent study could give you some answers on this. Researchers have observed that night owls, who tend to consume foods high in energy, carbohydrates, and fats late at night, may be associated with higher body fat percentage, belly fat, and higher blood sugar and lipid levels
“Chronotypes influences our preferences for food intake, our behaviours and our metabolism,” mentioned author Rozanne Kruger, from Griffith University’s school of allied health, sport and social work
This places greater emphasis on the timing of food consumption. Kruger also said that both morning-types and evening-types individuals consumed similar amounts of food or energy across the day, but it was the timing of eating that was crucial
How was the study conducted?
Published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition, experts observed data from 287 European and Pacific New Zealand women aged 18-45 years and assessed whether they were morning chronotypes (early birds) or evening chronotypes (night owls)
Evening-types consumed less food between 3 am and 9:59 am but more food between 8 pm and 2:59 am, while the opposite was true for morning-types
It was noted that night owls were more likely to consume lower energy and protein intakes in the morning, and ate foods that were high in energy, carbohydrates and fats late at night
“The ET (evening types) women consumed less energy and less micronutrient-dense food than the MT-IT (morning types and intermediate chronotypes),” the authors wrote
The evening-type individuals had lower dietary intake in the morning but higher intake in the evening, with an inverse pattern observed among morning-type individuals. Higher energy and macronutrient intake in the evening was significantly associated with a higher BF percentage and AG (android-to-gynoid) ratio in ET, suggesting a potentially greater susceptibility to obesity
Consuming food at night, when we are supposed to be fasting and sleeping, means we store more food rather than use it. This may increase susceptibility to obesity and cause worse health outcomes, the authors explained
The research also saw that the women who naturally preferred a later bedtime and wake time were also more likely to have poorer lipid profiles, and less favourable indicators of glucose regulation, compared to morning-types
For the night owls, targeting meal timing, particularly reducing late-night eating, could be an important strategy for improving health.
- Fitness and Nutrition
