The right time to eat: Circadian cycle of eating & weight Management
In any health fitness regime or weight management programme it’s important not only to eat the right food but equally important is to eat the food at the right time. Eating food at right time helps the body to recover the lost cells, proper metabolism and control lifestyle diseases. In any walk of life, timing is important for success and the same is true for weight loss management i.e when you eat.
Importance of eating at the right time
Eating is a complex process. Overrating is an even more complex process and eating at various infrequent intervals compound the effect of overeating. We have learned the problem of eating with food. And we have learned the habit of overeating with dieting. But in this discourse of eating what we have missed is the time of eating.
One of the key causes of weight gain is the impact of circadian disruption brought about by a culture of late-night binge eating, drinking, and inconsistent sleep patterns. For decades we have been bombarded with the information that high calories intake coupled with inconsistent exercise schedules leads to weight gains. Yes, these facts are right but also a key component in the weight gain is the inconsistent time of eating even though you may be meeting the calorie intakes and doing the regular exercises.
Facts behind the weight gain by inconsistent time of eating.
Circadian rhythms are intimately connected to our digestion and metabolism. Inside our body, every cell has been tuned to function in a cycle which times the physiological behaviour. This behaviour regulates the release of the hormones, when you feel sleepy, alert or having different moods. These body clocks are kept in synchrony with each other, and with the time of day outside, through signals from a small patch of brain tissue called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).
Our bodies are controlled in a cycle where we are more prone to burn calories in the daytime than the nighttime. In recent times due to our lifestyles, we have started eating more at nighttime than in day time which are calories intense foods. In the nighttime, the body is in repair and recovery mode than the burning of the calories. Our body is trained to handle the fasting at the night to rejuvenate itself. The food we eat in the night is more prone to go as excess calories and get stored in the body.
How it Happens
Let us study when we skip breakfast or delay the eating of the breakfast we miss the metabolism of the body which is at the peak of its activity. Now if we take the lunch at 2 to 3 pm then we are delaying the metabolism further and in the evening we binge on the food coupled with the alcohol and we are sure to see the gain of the weight. The delayed meal is only taking the metabolic activity further away from the Circadian rhythm.
Ideal meal plan for meeting the Circadian rhythm
| Time of day | Meal | Remarks |
| 7.00 am to 8.00 am | Breakfast | This breakfast must be nutritious and your maximum calories should come from the breakfast. |
| 11.00 am to 12.00 pm | Lunch | You can take lunch as per your appetite. This also can be a big meal. |
| 3.00 pm to 4.00 pm | Snacks | Take as per your liking. |
| 6.00 to 7.00 pm | Dinner | Light food with no or moderate alcohol. |
Note: All eating activity needs to stop after 7.00 PM, earlier the better
The Link Between Circadian Rhythm and Weight: Some studies
A study done on the circadian regulation by shows that “The timing of meals has been suggested to play an important role in circadian regulation and metabolic health. Three meals a day is a well-established human feeding habit, which in today’s lifestyle may or may not be followed. The aim of this study was to test whether the absence of breakfast or supper significantly affects the circadian system and physiological function. The authors developed a rat model for their daily three meals study, whereby animals were divided into three groups (three meals, TM; no first meal, NF; no last meal, NL) all fed with the same amount of food every day. Rats in the NF group displayed significantly decreased levels of plasma triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and glucose in the activity phase, accompanied by delayed circadian phases of hepatic peripheral clock and downstream metabolic genes. Rats in the NL group showed lower concentration of plasma TC, HDL-C, and glucose in the rest phase, plus reduced adipose tissue accumulation and body weight gain.
Differential Roles of Breakfast and Supper in Rats of a Daily Three-Meal Schedule Upon Circadian Regulation and Physiology by Tao Wau ,Lu sun ,Fen ZhangGe et al)
A study was done on overweight women who were fed different similar calories but at different intervals. One set of women were given (a group named as BF) Breakfast 700 Kcal, for lunch 500 Kcal, and 200 Kcal for dinner. The group named as D was given the reverse of the same namely BF -200 Kcal, Lunch 500 Kcal and Dinner -700 Kcal for 12 weeks. Conclusion: High-calorie diet with reduced calories at dinner is useful for weight reduction and control of glucose. High Caloric intake at breakfast vs. dinner differentially influences weight loss of overweight and obese women Daniela Jakubowicz, Maayan Barnea, Julio Wainstein, Oren Froy