Metabolic

This is the time of day when you burn the most calories: study

According to the study published in Current Biology, we burn 10 percent more calories in the late afternoon and early evening than in the morning. This means that the next time you are lazy in the afternoon you don’t have to worry as your body will fill the void for you.

The study highlights the important role of the circadian rhythm in regulating metabolism. That’s why people who have irregular sleep schedules due to night shifts or other factors are more likely to gain weight.

To assess changes in metabolism throughout the day without the effects of activity levels, eating habits, and sleep patterns, the scientists studied seven participants over a month in a lab that had no windows or clocks. Participants didn’t even have a phone or internet and were given schedules of when to sleep, wake up, and eat.

Each night, participants went to sleep four hours later than the night before. Because of this, the body’s internal clock could not keep up. That left the body to hold its own time without relying on outside cues. This enabled researchers to measure metabolic rate at all different biological times of the day.

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