Late Night Eating And Weight Gain

The Study

Late night eating is considered a risk for weight gain. However, there has been little research published in this area. In this investigation, 110 college-aged men and women recorded all of their food intake with a time stamp so the hour of consumption could be accurately recorded. When compared to normal weight subjects, overweight subjects consumed significantly more of their calories 1 hour closer to melatonin onset, which was around 11 PM.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2017; 106:1213-19.

Take Home Message

This is a very interesting study. I have noticed for years that my clients who eat late at night don’t seem to lose much weight. The authors of this study were not quite sure why late night eating was associated with weight gain. One hypothesis is that the thermic effect of food decreases late at night. This would translate into more calories being available for fat storage in comparison to the same meal eaten earlier in the day.

Although this investigation is a cross-sectional study, which is considered a weaker form of evidence, I think there is something here. I always have my clients finish eating by 8:00 PM if they are trying to lose weight.  

Grip Strength And Mortality

The Study

In this interesting study, 403,199 members of the UK Biobank Study had their grip strength measured and were followed for 7 years. After controlling for all known confounders, including body mass index, men with the highest grip strength had a 32% lower risk of mortality compared to men with the lowest grip strength. Women with the highest grip strength had a 25% lower risk of mortality compared to women with the lowest grip strength. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2017;106:773-82.

Take Home Message

Grip strength is a pretty good indicator of total strength. This study shows us that the stronger you are, the healthier you are. A possible mechanism at play here is improved glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity in subjects who regularly lift weights. There is also evidence that weight lifters have improved blood lipid profiles. Resistance training is an often overlooked aspect of health and fitness.  Try to hit the weights at least twice a week and preferably three times a week.  You don’t have to lift heavy weights or spend a lot of time, a simple 20-30 minute full body workout with lighter weights will get the job done nicely.

Book Review: Eat, Drink And Be Healthy

Next up for review is Eat, Drink And Be Healthy, which is an updated 2^nd edition of the original work published in 2001. The author, Dr. Walter Willett, is a Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. He was the director of the nutrition department at Harvard when I was in grad school. It was an honor to learn from him and you will not find a more impressive and respected nutrition researcher anywhere in the world.

Introduction

This book is basically a nutrition research encyclopedia, summarizing the most important literature of the past few decades. Dr. Willett organizes the book into 7 diet and lifestyle recommendations that have a powerful impact on risk of chronic disease. The book is 378 pages long. It is extremely well written and researched and I truly enjoyed reading it.  This is the best nutrition book I have ever read and the original version is the 2^nd best nutrition book I have ever read.

5 Things I Really Liked About Eat, Drink, And Be Healthy

1) The best thing about this book is that all of the recommendations are based on scientific evidence. There is not a person in the world that understands nutrition research as well as Dr. Willett. He is considered the father of Nutritional Epidemiology and this book is a bible of nutrition research. So many popular diet books make recommendations based solely on the opinion of the author. It is so very nice to read a nutrition book making recommendations that are based on peer-reviewed evidence.

2) The chapter on dietary fats is amazing. There has been a lot of confusion lately about which fats are healthy and which are not that has been generated by popular diet books and the media. Dr. Willett sets the record straight.

3) If you have worked with me personally or read any of my books, you already know that carbohydrate quality is of extreme importance to me. Dr. Willet does an amazing job with his chapter on carbohydrates.

4) I really liked the section on how to decipher nutrition research. The media does a horrible job when disseminating new nutrition research. Their goal is clearly to generate buzz and sell newspapers and they often completely misinterpret research findings. Dr. Willett explains the process of the scientific method and how it is normal and fine to get contradictory results from nutrition research from time to time. Recommendations should never be altered based on just one study. You always want to look at a new study in the context of research done in other populations and with different study designs. Willett really does a good job explaining this.

5) The chapter on weight loss diets is outstanding. Willett goes through each of the popular diet strategies out there and expertly lists the pro’s and con’s of each. This is probably the coolest part of the book, in my opinion.

Is Eat, Drink And Be Healthy Worth Reading?

Absolutely! As I mentioned above, if you could read just one book on nutrition, this would be it. Dr. Willett has changed the way we conduct nutrition research and millions have benefitted from his work. I think this book should be required reading for all high school students. There are very few books out there that can actually change the course of your life after reading them, this is one of them.