Are you one in all the numerous individuals who often find yourself eating later at night? A latest study sheds light on how this habit may very well be detrimental.

Eating late at night is a no-no for a lot of diets, but not many studies have delved into its actual effects on the three key aspects in regulating body weight, Brigham and Women’s Hospital noted in a news release. These are “regulation of calorie intake, the variety of calories you burn, and molecular changes in fat tissue.”

For his or her latest study, published Tuesday in Cell Metabolism, researchers had a take a look at the consequences of early eating in comparison with late eating, while controlling for other essential aspects comparable to light exposure, sleep and physical activity.

“On this study, we asked, ‘Does the time that we eat matter when the whole lot else is kept consistent?'” study’s first creator, Nina Vujovic of Brigham’s Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, said within the news release.

To seek out out, the researchers conducted the study on 16 participants who’re considered either chubby or obese. They accomplished two laboratory protocols — the early eating protocol and the late eating protocol — wherein the meals were delayed by 240 minutes (4 hours). In addition they had fixed sleep and wake schedules for 2 to 3 weeks prior to the lab protocols, and likewise followed strict diets at home within the three days leading as much as it.

While within the lab, participants documented their hunger and appetite. Essential samples comparable to blood samples, body temperature, energy expenditure and adipose tissue biopsies, were also collected.

The researchers found that late eating affected all three primary aspects. It “doubled the chances of being hungry,” burned calories slower and really altered the mechanisms behind lipid metabolism.

“(W)e found that eating 4 hours later makes a major difference for our hunger levels, the best way we burn calories after we eat, and the best way we store fat,” said Vujovic.

“Our results show that late eating consistently altered physiological functions and biological processes involved in regulation of energy intake, expenditure, and storage—each of those three in a direction favoring weight gain,” the researchers wrote.

And within the real-life setting wherein there is best food availability, the researchers imagine the consequences of late eating “could also be much more pronounced.”

This shows the varied aspects by which late eating may increase obesity risk, they added. It also adds to the body of research on just how meal timings may very well affect people. In a recent study, for example, researchers also found that those that had meals each within the daytime and nighttime had increased depression-like and anxiety-like mood levels.

Within the case of the present study, researchers noted that further studies are needed to check its “generalizability.” For example, there have been only five female participants, resulting in an underrepresentation of the sex.