The observational study, published in the journal Obesity, followed 420 people on a weight loss programme over 20 weeks. All participants ate the same amount of calories, consuming 40% of their daily total at lunch. The study found that those who ate their lunch early lost 2.2kg more than those who had a late lunch (defined here as after 3pm).
While the study did not provide information on whether the participants also engaged in exercise, the findings add to the on-going debate about when is the best time to eat and if eating earlier in the day means calories are more likely to be worked off than if consumed later.
Most studies into weight loss or gain depending on when food is eaten involve mice rather than humans but research using rhesus monkeys appears to show those who eat mainly at night are no more likely to get fat than those who eat earlier.
Meanwhile, a review on obesity in the New England Journal of Medicine says losing weight quickly won’t make you more likely to pile the pounds back on just as quickly. The review also insists that small changes to diet and exercise will take too long to make any discernible difference in weight loss.
The conflicting advice and evidence from the many different strands of research into diet and weight loss nevertheless always come down to one thing – to lose weight, you need to eat less and move more.