Washington: People lost 25 percent less weight if they ate lunch after 3 pm, a new study has found. The study followed 420 Spanish people in a weight-loss program media, reported. However, the study doesn't mean that you should eat earlier-in fact, you might want to do the opposite.

The Spanish are known for making a late lunch the biggest meal of the day, so the study's authors couldn't say that the findings would apply in the US. That said, other new research does show that when you eat-not what you eat-can turn on your body's fat-fighting genes.


The average American eats 3.5 times per day, according to research from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences-and that's only counting meals of at least 70 calories or more, not the handful of chips you grab between commercial breaks.

In other words, our modern schedule has thrown our bodies' clocks completely out of whack-and along with it, our metabolism. The result - it's easy to get caught in a "fat cycle," a constant flow of hunger hormones that makes you prone to cravings.

For some people, that's no biggie. They consume a moderate number of calories, exercise regularly, and are happy to soothe their hunger pains with fruit and other healthy snacks . But it's a major problem for others - those who've tried (and failed) to moderate calorie intake, those who have tried (and failed) to resist sugary treats and those who've tried (and failed to finish) other traditional diet plans.



The findings are published in the International Journal of Obesity.


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