2024-01-27 15:38:08
There was the ketogenic diet phase, then the intermittent fasting phase. Now we are dealing with chrono-nutrition, the dietary regime that is based on the intake of certain foods at specific times of the day following the rhythms of chronobiology. But does eating early in the evening really help you not gain weight?
Meal timing, does it really help?
Some nutritionists recommend respecting the timing of meals to avoid gaining weight: breakfast between 6 and 8, lunch better between 12 and 1 and dinner between 6.30 and 7.30, because the habit of eating very late evening is harmful to the silhouette considering that the metabolism slows down.
“It’s all useless if you don’t adopt a healthy and balanced lifestyle. It’s good to have dinner early, but it’s also fine after 8pm: if you follow the Mediterranean diet and practice physical activity, there’s no risk of gaining weight.” Thus at Adnkronos Salute Professor Silvia Migliaccio, specialist in Endocrinology and Human Nutrition, president of the Italian Society of Food Sciences, talks about the trend of chrono-nutrition.
“Some people, including well-known faces from the entertainment industry, eat dinner by 4-5pm in the afternoon – explains Migliaccio – after that time they no longer eat anything until the following morning. Here, in addition to the time, you need to pay attention to what you eat and the quantities.” “Chrono-nutrition deals with the correlations between the circadian rhythm of our body and nutrition – underlines the expert – The circadian rhythm is coordinated by the internal biological clock and regulated by sunlight. In particular, there is a hormone – melatonin – which has a peak at night while cortisol has a peak in the morning.”
Chronotype, what it means and what they are
Some people are already productive in the early morning, while others feel energized in the evening. Hence the chronotype, which defines the characteristic of an individual to follow particular daily rhythms: there are the ‘larks’, notoriously early risers. Their molecular biological clock is ahead of the actual time of day. Larks reach their peak productivity already before midday. In return, they feel tired already in the early hours of the evening. And then there are the ‘owls’, known for being sleepyheads, who prefer to wake up late and are very productive in the evening.
“Some studies suggest that the ‘owl chronotype’, who therefore eats later in the evening, has a greater risk of gaining weight than those who belong to the ‘lark chronotype’, who wake up earlier and eat meals earlier in the day – underlines Migliaccio – The alteration of circadian rhythms is linked to an alteration in the rhythmicity of these hormones. In the same way we can talk about the rhythmicity of meals, i.e. breakfast, lunch and dinner (possible snacks). In any case, regardless of the chronotype and meal times, during the day the maintenance of body weight is given by the balance between income – i.e. the calories we take in with food – and expenditure, i.e. the calories we ‘burn’ doing physical activity”. Therefore, to “maintain the right body weight” it is essential to follow a “healthy and balanced lifestyle” which is made up of “correct nutrition with the right balance of macro and micro nutrients (Mediterranean diet) and physical activity, which must be adequate for needs of the individual”.
As for the two snacks in the morning and afternoon, the first – according to the followers of chrono-nutrition – is advisable between 10 and 11 am, while the mid-afternoon one is between 4 and 6 pm. These are the times in which insulin is raises and, particularly in people who are more sensitive to this hormone, a strong sense of appetite is felt. Even on this aspect, however, Migliaccio points out: “It is worth reiterating that insulin rises when following a high-calorie diet and after consuming meals rich especially in carbohydrates, regardless of the specific time of the day”, he concludes.
by Francesca Filippi
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