Losing weight may not be just about WHAT you eat but WHEN you
eat it, according to a new study. Participants in the study who
ate a bigger meal later in the day lost less weight than those
who ate earlier. Study author Dr. Frank Scheer, director of the
medical chronobiology program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in
Boston, and his colleagues followed 420 people in Spain during a
20-week weight loss treatment program. The participants were
split into two groups -- early eaters who ate lunch before 3
p.m. and late eaters who ate lunch after 3 p.m. In Spain, lunch
is the biggest meal of the day, comprising about 40 percent of a
person's daily calories. The early eaters, on average, lost 25
percent more weight than the late eaters over the course of the
study, according to Scheer. The study authors found no
difference in the groups' weight loss based on breakfast and
dinner timing. They also looked at energy expenditure, dietary
composition, appetite hormones and sleep duration. These factors
were similar in bot