Q) How important is it to finish eating before the early evening. That is, how much more weight
will I gain if I have a big mac after 8:00 P.M. versus at noon?
A) It doesn’t seem to matter when you have your Mac. A recent study, using 20 female
monkeys, compared those who consumed 2/3 or more of their calorie intake at night, with
other monkeys who only consumed 1/3 of their total at night. There was no relationship
between the time of calorie intake and weight gain. The monkeys who were most active
lost the most weight, regardless of when they ate (Cameron, 2005).
Q) Why should I base my eating habits on monkey studies?
A) Mechanisms of weight gain and loss are very similar in monkeys and human beings.
However, more accurate measures of actual caloric intake along with exercise
expenditures in monkeys, who can be observed in captivity. Also, monkeys don’t lie about
how much they ate during the day.
Q) Is it good to drink water if one is dieting?
A) It is uncertain if increased water consumption causes one to lose weight. However, one
study indicated that those who push their drinking consume, on average, 200 less calories
per day (Plotkin, Barclay, & Nielsen, 2005).
Q) How many calories do I need to maintain my weight?
Calorie requirements vary between people. On average, a woman needs 12 calories per
day per pound of body weight to stay at the same weight. Men need 14 calories per pound
to maintain their weight.
References
Popkin, B., Barclay, D. V., & Nielsen, S. J. (December 2005). Water and Food
Consumption Patterns of U.S. Adults from 1999 to 2001 Obesity Research,13,
2146-2152.
Sullivan, E. L., Daniels, Koegler, F.H, and Cameron, J. L. (2005). Evidence in female
Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) that nighttime caloric intake is not associated
with weight gain. Obesity Research, 13, 2072-2080
Copyright Mark Zelig, Ph.D., LLC, 2009.
