In a study from the University of Aberdeen, scientists found whether a person eats their largest meal early or late in the day does not affect the way their body metabolizes calories.
However, people who ate their largest meal in the morning did report feeling less hungry later in the day, which could foster easier weight loss in the real world.
There’s the old saying in dieting that one must “breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dine like a pauper,” based on the belief that consuming the bulk of daily calories in the morning optimizes weight loss by burning calories more efficiently and quickly.
In the study, the team tested healthy people who were overweight or obese to have their diets controlled and their metabolisms measured over a period of time; 16 men and 14 women completed the study.
Each participant was randomly assigned to eat either a morning-loaded or an evening-loaded diet for four weeks. The diets had a balance of 30% protein, 35% carbohydrate, and 35% fat.
After a washout period of one week in which calories were balanced throughout the day, each participant crossed over to the opposite diet for four weeks. In that way, each participant acted as their own study control.
Overall, the researchers found that energy expenditures and total weight loss were the same for the morning-loaded and evening-loaded diets.
The people lost an average of just over 3 kg (about 7 pounds) during each of the four-week periods.
The secondary endpoints were subjective appetite control, blood sugar control, and body composition.
The participants reported that their appetites were better controlled on the days they ate a bigger breakfast and that they felt satiated throughout the rest of the day
The team says this could be quite useful in the real-world environment, versus in the research setting that we were working in.
The team notes that this type of experiment could be applied to the study of intermittent fasting (also called time-restricted eating), to help determine the best time of day for people following this type of diet to consume their calories.
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The study was conducted by Professor Alexandra Johnstone et al and published in Cell Metabolism.
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