EAT YOURSELF LEAN
How a leisurely lunch will keep you nicely trim and shave years off your good looks
Let’s chew over the facts: for the average Brit, ‘breakfast’ still consists of a couple of slices of toast, hurriedly inhaled while scrolling through the news, and lunch offers little more than a Tupperware box of leftovers. The promise of a hot dinner is likely all that sustains you through the working day. But as our office hours slowly encroach upon our evenings – and dinner time is inevitably further delayed – this back-loaded routine could be doing us ill. In fact, taking time to fuel up earlier on is an increasingly attractive option.
Recent studies from UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered surprising new insights into the way our body clocks interact with the cells in our digestive system. Their research, conducted on mice, suggests that eating the bulk of your calories earlier in the day could re-synch your circadian rhythms, not only leading to reduced fat storage, but even boosting the enzymes that protect skin against the harmful, ageing effects of UV radiation.
Of course, making a prompt exit at hometime will help, too. But with pre- Christmas deadlines looming, binning your bland al desko breakfast in favour of something more satisfying will deliver big benefits. Alternatively, should you wish to wait until Sunday to kickstart your new healthy habit, a leisurely brunch could prove just the tonic. Now, will it be scrambled or fried?