3 models of healthy eating

Food has a huge impact on the body and health. However, experts warn that many people don't think about meal times, while meal times are just as important as what they eat, according to the Daily Mail.

Although some people may eat extremely healthily, research shows that meals being too close together, combining meals into one, or having meal times too far apart can affect weight.

Irregular meal times mean the body doesn't have enough time to digest food. Metabolism is influenced by the circadian rhythm (i.e., biological clock) and follows the natural cycle of the body working during the day and resting at night. Researchers at Birgham & Women's Hospital (USA) conducted a study and found that meal times, wake-up times, and sleep times affect weight.

In this study, researchers examined fat, body mass index, and the timing of food consumption. They compared these to the time of day and circadian rhythms. This is the first time meal timing has been studied in a real-world setting.

"We found that meal timing, which is related to the onset of melatonin—the nighttime hormone that signals sleep time—is associated with higher body fat percentage and BMI, and not with the quantity or composition of food," said author Andrew W. McHill.

Dr. McHill stated that even with low calorie intake, eating close to bedtime still results in a higher percentage of body fat, whereas those with lower body fat percentages tend to go to bed a few hours after their last meal of the day. The researchers concluded that these results provide evidence that eating food in the evening plays a significant role in body composition.

According to TNO