A game-changer for good health? Scientists believe ‘we are when we eat’ | Devi Sridhar

A.reduce your calories. Eat more vegetables. Limit soda and junk food. For years, even decades, this has been the advice given to those who want a healthy weight, lower blood pressure, and better markers of metabolic health. Most weight loss advice either focuses on what to eat (and what to avoid) or how much to eat. Think about food pyramids produced by government agencies, calories listed on food packages and meals, and typical nutritional advice.

This is all true, to a certain extent: it’s obviously better to eat a healthier, nutritionally balanced diet, and yes, lower body weight is largely linked to reduced calories. But this type of approach can be difficult to maintain. Even as a personal trainer who knows what I “should” eat according to government dietary advice and has heard too much about calorie deficits, I take a slightly different approach to eating. I think we need to bring nuance and a balanced approach to diet and what we eat.

Sometimes I just want a piece of chocolate cake, even though I know a fruit salad would be a nutritionally better choice. Additionally, counting calories and classifying foods as “good” or “bad” can not only be boring and time-consuming, but it can also lead to eating disorders such as orthorexia, described by the British Dietetic Association as a “pathological fixation on healthy eating.” More, it is difficult to feel hungry for months and years, compared to a limited number of days.

So I was delighted to read a new study that should have made headlines around the world. This meta-analysis explores another dietary question: Does when you eat make a difference? Researchers analyzed 41 randomized controlled trials to examine the impact of early or mid-term restricted eating on a number of body weights and blood markers. About 2,200 participants (42% women) with an average age of 19 to 69 were followed for 4 to 48 weeks, according to the study. Early food restrictions meant the last meal was eaten before 5 p.m., while half-time meals ended between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and late meals ended a meal after 7 p.m.

The results complicate the “calories in and calories out” narrative. Eating earlier in the evening (finishing before 5 p.m. or before 7 p.m.) was associated with significant improvements in body weight, BMI, body fat percentage, waist circumference, blood pressure, and metabolic markers (molecules in your blood like glucose, insulin, and triglycerides, which can give an idea of ​​how your metabolism is working).

Could this be because those who ate fewer calories ate earlier in the evening? Not exactly – several trials have shown that even without eating less overall, you should eat during a certain time slot during the day. resulted in better markers of metabolic health such as fasting blood sugar, fasting insulin, and triglyceride levels. Basically, an eating habit earlier before bedtime has independent positive effects.

The researchers offer their explanation. First, the body handles sugar better earlier in the day, so the same meal causes a higher spike in blood sugar at night than in the morning. Studies have shown that the body releases the most insulin – the hormone that helps move sugar from the blood into cells – between noon and 6 p.m., and the lowest during sleep. Quite simply, because of the way our hormones are secreted, we have better control over our food intake in the morning and afternoon than in the evening and night.

Depending on how you read the results, it could make your life easier or harder. More difficult on a practical and social level: who can really eat dinner before 5 p.m., or even 7 p.m., given the structure of modern life and the desire to eat with family or friends? Working late shifts makes this virtually impossible, as do work and social commitments. If you really want that piece of cake or croissant, it’s best to have it earlier in the day. I’m not saying to have chocolate for breakfast, but I am saying that if you’re going to eat chocolate tomorrow, maybe have it before 5 p.m., when your body will be better prepared to handle it.

• Professor Devi Sridhar is Chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh and author of How Not to Die (Too Soon)