Science behind weight loss: Harvard reveals the ideal time to have dinner

When it comes to losing weight, attention often turns to what we eat. However, the importance of when and how we carry out meals should not be underestimated.

Therefore, researchers from Harvard University shed light on dinner time and indicate, according to studies, the ideal time to eat at night to help lose weight.

Harvard Tips: The Right Time to Eat Dinner and Lose Weight

According to researchers from the renowned university, the European time option, around 7pm, is the ideal time for dinner. They also emphasize the preference for concluding the final meal six and a half hours before bed.

The study involved 16 people who were overweight or obese, who were placed on two different schedules with identical diets.

In the first, for six consecutive days, meals were eaten, but the last one ended six and a half hours before bed.

Harvard’s revelation about dinner times – Image: iStock/Reproduction

In the second schedule, over six additional days, the same meals were delayed by four hours, ending two and a half hours before to sleep.

During the research, scientists monitored appetite-regulating hormones, body temperature, calorie expenditure and fat cells, observing that participants who ate dinner later burned fewer calories and stored more fat.

Although occasionally eating a late dinner is not considered harmful, researchers emphasize the importance of preventing it from becoming a habit.

The analysis also highlighted the impact on hormones that regulate appetite and satiety, such as decreasing levels of leptin, a hormone crucial for feelings of satiety.

The researchers highlight the relevance of dinner time, highlighting that the body was designed to burn more calories during the day, and eating late can interrupt this natural process, affecting metabolism.

The research also showed that those who ate meals later were more likely to gain weight, burning fewer calories and storing more fat.

Additionally, they warned of the potential rise in blood sugar levels associated with a late dinner, which could result in long-term health problems such as the development of diabetes.