Why it may be better to skip dinner than breakfast

The studies that are being carried out on the effects of intermittent fasting show very interesting results: It favors weight loss, improves blood pressure and reduces cholesterol and blood sugar levels, among other benefits.

To do so, the most frequent recommendation is to have an early dinner and not have breakfast or do it almost at noon to be without eating. for a period of 14 to 18 hours. For example, this condition is fulfilled if we have dinner at 9:00 PM and have breakfast at 11:00 AM, in the short version, or at 3:00 PM, in the long version.

However, recent studies show that actually it would be better to skip dinner and eat breakfast early. This proposal will be very liked by people who precisely do not dare with intermittent fasting because it is very difficult for them not to have breakfast after getting up.

In this video we tell you what you can take during a fast:

What is the best time to fast?

The idea behind intermittent fasting is that if we let enough hours go by between meals, we allow blood insulin levels to drop enough for us to The body turns to fat cells for energy. But what is the best time to fast?

Over hundreds of thousands of years we have evolved under the succession of days and nights, that is, under a circadian rhythm that our body has made its own in many ways. Our metabolism has adapted to eating during the day and sleeping at night. That is why it is consistent that eating during the night is associated with an increased risk of obesity, as well as diabetes, because our metabolism does not work the same as it does in the morning.

Stop eating before 3:00 p.m.

Based on this idea, researchers from the University of Alabama (United States) conducted a study with a small group of obese men with prediabetes. They compared a form of intermittent fasting called “early time-restricted feeding”, in which all meals were eaten within an early eight-hour window (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.). Participants in the other group, which acted as controls, were able to eat until 7:00 p.m.

After five weeks of following these eating schedules, both groups of men maintained their weight (neither gained nor lost it). However, the group that restricted meals to an 8-hour window and ate a snack after 3:00 p.m. recorded much lower blood insulin levels, increased insulin sensitivity and lower blood pressure. Also, interestingly, the 8-hour group experienced less appetite.

The conclusion is that the simple fact of changing the timing of meals and stopping eating early produced Significant benefits on metabolism.

According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, fasting is part of our physiology and triggers essential cellular functions that promote weight control, reduce inflammation and improve symptoms of a variety of problems health, from pain caused by arthritis to asthma.

Even overnight fasting could reduce the risk of cancer (because it helps eliminate damaged cells through the process called autophagy) and improves brain function.

Balanced diet, sleep and rest

Of course, not eating in the afternoon and at night is not the only key to health. It is equally essential that meals be balanced and based on natural foods, and that our lifestyle includes sufficient physical exercise, rest, and emotional well-being.

On the other hand, people with advanced diabetes or taking medications, a history of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, and pregnant or lactating women should not practice intermittent fasting unless under the guidance of supervision of a doctor that I can control them.

Scientific references: