Which will make you lose more weight: eating more at lunch or eating more at dinner?

When it comes to losing weight, most people will control the calories they eat. So, after controlling the total calorie intake per day, how should we distribute the amounts of the three meals? Is it better to eat more Chinese food? Or should I eat more at dinner? Often after a busy day at get off work, in order to relax and reward ourselves, dinner often becomes the largest meal of the day. Is this a good idea? New research gives us the answer!

This study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN). The researchers recruited 80 middle-aged women (average age 33) who wanted to lose weight in an outpatient clinic. The average BMI was about 32, and they did not have any cardiovascular or metabolic diseases. They were divided into two groups. Under the supervision of a nutritionist, the two groups had similar total daily calorie intake and a similar calorie ratio of carbohydrates/protein/fat. The only difference was:

• Lunch group: 50% of the total daily calories were consumed at noon and 20% at dinner.

• The large dinner group consumed 20% of the total daily calories at noon and 50% of the total daily calories at night.

As for the two groups, breakfast accounted for 15% of the total daily calories, and snacks also accounted for 15%. The process was monitored by a nutritionist, combined with exercise, and continued to cooperate with the plan. After 12 weeks, the purpose was to explore whether there were any changes and differences in weight, waist circumference, blood sugar, blood fat, and insulin resistance before and after the experiment.

After 12 weeks of the weight loss program, the results showed that:

1. Both groups achieved significant weight loss results! But further comparison shows that the large lunch group lost an average of 5.73 kg; the large dinner group lost an average of 4.31 kg, so the large lunch group lost 1.42 kg more , and the large lunch group also lost more BMI, so the large lunch group wins!

2. Both groups showed significant improvements in fasting insulin concentrations and insulin resistance, but the large lunch group showed greater improvements than the large dinner group, so the large lunch group still won!

3. Other metabolic-related indicators including waist circumference, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), fasting blood sugar, 75 grams of glucose test 2 hours blood sugar level, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), etc., were also improved in both groups, but there was no significant difference in the degree of improvement between the two groups.

Past studies have found that if you eat more at noon in the total calorie distribution of a day, you will have a lower risk of obesity than if you eat more at night.

However, this new study is the first to use a randomized, interventional approach to directly compare the weight loss effects of different calorie distributions between lunch and dinner for middle-aged women who wanted to lose weight and participated in a weight loss program in an outpatient clinic. Both groups achieved the goals of losing weight and promoting health, but those who ate more lunch had a better weight loss effect! What is the mechanism behind this? Why is there such a difference? More research in the future will tell us.

"Wow! That's great! Then I can still have big meals every day from now on, as long as I eat at noon!"

oops! Then you are totally wrong! The subjects of the experiment were women who really wanted to lose weight. They controlled their calories under the supervision of a nutritionist, did not eat unlimited large meals, and also exercised, cooperating completely! However, this study does provide a reference for the calorie distribution of three meals for people who want to lose weight.

There is no shortcut to losing weight. The only way is to control your diet and maintain a healthy lifestyle !

This article is from: Dr. Henry Wu's Health Notes

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