US study reveals that Weight loss 'doesn't depend on timing of meals'

Weight Loss Dependency 

A US study found that frequency and amount of meals are more closely related to weight loss than timing. It was suggested that it is more effective to reduce the overall amount of food eaten and reduce total calories than "intermittent fasting", which only eats at specific times.

Johns Hopkins University in the United States analyzed the electronic medical records of about 550 people for about six years. Eighty percent of them were Caucasian, with an average age of 51, and most of them had a university degree or higher. An app was used to track meal times, approximate meal sizes, and wake and sleep times for six months.

Meal timing was not correlated with weight change over 6 years. There was no association between the time from the first meal to the last meal of the day, the time from waking up to the first meal, or the time from the last meal to bedtime.

A total number of meals of more than 1000 calories or 500 to 1000 calories per day was associated with weight gain, and fewer meals of less than 500 calories were associated with weight loss.

Some studies have suggested that intermittent fasting regulates metabolism, but the association was low in this study. Intermittent fasting, such as fasting for 16 hours and eating for 8 hours out of a 24-hour day, is not very effective for weight loss.