High-calorie food will save you from obesity
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Scientists from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem found that a carefully planned diet high in fat can lead to weight loss and accelerate metabolic processes. Thanks to such a diet, calories do not turn into fat, but are used to generate energy when a person does not eat.
Previous studies have found that the violation of diurnal modes of mammals and a diet high in fat interferes with metabolic processes, which subsequently leads to obesity.
The goal of the specialists was to find out how a high-calorie diet works on the body if this diet is used long-term and strictly according to the schedule.
They suggested that such an "accurate" diet would regulate the biological clock and reduce the risk of gaining excess weight that occurs with such food in normal, uncontrolled conditions.
For 18 weeks scientists have been feeding experimental mice to get an answer to the question they are interested in. The mice were divided into four groups: one "sat" on a diet with a low fat content, but they fed on the exact schedule, the second group ate the same food, but in disorderly mode (that concerned both the time of the meal and its quantity). Mice from the third group ate high-calorie food at a certain time, adhering to the exact schedule, and the fourth team of the researchers ate the fat-saturated food, but in an arbitrary mode.
As a result, it turned out that all four groups gained weight. The largest percentage of body weight was found in mice from the fourth group who fed fatty foods, not adhering to the exact schedule, and the smallest - those who ate high-calorie food, but at the exact time.
In addition, in the rodents of this group, calories did not turn into fat, but were consumed until the animals received food.
"Our study demonstrates that eating time prevails over the amount of fat in the diet, which leads to improved metabolism and helps prevent obesity. Improving metabolism, through careful planning of eating, without limiting the components of the daily menu, can be used as a therapeutic tool to prevent obesity in humans. "