How an early breakfast and late dinner could keep you in shape

WHEN it comes to losing weight, it appears that when you eat may be just as important as what you eat.

In fact, an early dinner combined with a late breakfast may cut body fat and help you to eat less, research suggests.

People told to delay breakfast until about 10am and sit down to dinner at around 6pm lost twice as much body fat as those eating at their normal times.

They ate less fat and sugar and drank less alcohol thanks to a consumption window of up to eight and a half hours a day and a ban on snacks after dinner, allowing their bodies to fast for longer. Researchers at the University of Surrey tested nine people for the BBC show Trust Me, I’m A Doctor. The volunteers lost almost 2 per cent of their body fat in ten weeks.

The study, published in the Journal of Nutritional Science, reveals that while participants didn’t lose much more weight by adjusting meal times than those who kept a normal routine, the reduction in fat may mean they would do so in the long run because the body would start burning its energy reserves.