In a new study, researchers found that irregularity in eating schedules during the weekend, which they call “eating jet lag,” could be related to the increase of body mass index (BMI).
BMI is a number that measures weight and height to determine whether someone’s weight is healthy.
This is the first study that shows the importance of regularity in eating schedules—including weekends—to control weight, and could be an element to consider as part of nutrition guidelines to prevent obesity.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Barcelona.
In recent years, researchers have found the body uses calories differently depending on the time of the day. Eating late can be related to a higher risk of obesity.
This difference is related to our biological clock, which organizes the body to understand and metabolize calories consumed during the day.
According to the team, at night, the body clock gets the body ready for fasting while we sleep.
As a result, when intake takes place regularly, the circadian clock ensures that the body’s metabolic pathways act to assimilate nutrients.
However, when food is taken at an unusual hour, nutrients can act on the molecular machinery of peripheral clocks (outside the brain), altering the schedule and thus, modifying the body’s metabolic functions.
The team tested 1,106 people in Spain and Mexico. They analyzed the relation between the BMI and the variability in eating timing during weekends compared to the rest of the days.
They found changing the timing of the three meals during the weekend is linked to obesity.
The highest impact could occur when there is a 3.5-hour difference in eating schedules. After this, the risk of obesity could increase.
To explain the link between eating jet lag and obesity, the authors believe that individuals undergo a chronodisruption, that is, a lack of synchrony between the internal time of the body and social time.
More research is needed to reveal the physiological mechanisms and metabolic alterations behind the eating jet lag and its link to obesity.
However, the researchers highlight the importance of keeping regular eating and sleeping schedules to preserve health and wellbeing.
One author of the study is Maria Izquierdo Pulido, from the Department of Nutrition, Food Sciences, and Gastronomy of the UB.
The study is published in Nutrients.
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