WeightControl.com Interview with:
M. Sc. Juliane Richter
University of Lübeck
Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism
Section of Psychoneurobiology
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The background for this study is
that there is still the misbelief that it does not matter when we eat and that
the only thing that counts is the energy balance of the whole day. However,
since our body has an internal clock and many processes in the body, for
example glucose metabolism, are subject to diurnal variations, we investigated
whether diet-induced thermogenesis also varies during the course of the day.
Diet-induced thermogenesis is the energy our body spends for the digestion,
absorption and transport of nutrients. We found that diet-induced thermogenesis
after breakfast is more than twice as high as after dinner. We also
investigated whether this difference in time of day depends on the amount of
calories consumed. In both cases, high- and low-calorie meals, the body spends
more energy after breakfast than after dinner.
