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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : November 15, 2018 4:16 PM IST
You will end up burning the most calorie sin the late afternoon. ©Shutterstock
Your body may burn different amounts of calories depending on the time of day. We are not kidding here! A study published in 'Current Biology' determined if our circadian rhythm the 'internal clock' of the body that controls when we feel sleepy, alert, or hungry influences how many calories we burn in the day and night.
Reportedly, researchers observed that participants burned around 10 per cent more calories in the late afternoon and evening than compared to the middle of the night. The difference was around 130 extra calories burned. Participants wore sensors that tracked their core body temperature because a higher core body temperature reading means that a person is burning more calories, in order to determine how many calories people burn at different points in their circadian cycle.
The sleeping and waking times of the participants to ensure the participants' circadian rhythms weren't influenced by external factors such as light exposure and social cues, was gradually shifted by the researchers.
According to the findings of the study, participants' core body temperatures at rest were generally higher during the time period that corresponded to late afternoon. In contrast, their core body temperatures dipped in the late evening and early morning hours. Our bodies burn the most calories performing basic functions in the late afternoon, revealed the findings.
According to senior study author Jeanne Duffy, PhD, an associate neuroscientist in the division of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, the conventional wisdom is that if you want to measure someone's REE, you don't really see what time of day you do it. You take the measurement and assume that it 's proper.
For 37 days, the participants lived in a laboratory and were not exposed to potential environmental disruptions such as clocks, windows, phones or the internet. Also, the food intake and activity levels of the participants were examined d and controlled. Even though, the findings of this study are still preliminary.
