The Freshman 15 - this refers to the 15 pounds that freshmen students in college usually gain on their first year living away from home. This gain is partly due to the substitution of home-cooked meals for fast food meals. In addition to that, the reduced physical activities also contribute to weight gain.
However, scientists are looking at other possible reasons for the unwanted weight gain. Circadian disruption brought about the new culture in college that meant late-night drinking and eating and inconsistency in sleeping patterns.
For years, people have been told that weight gain can only be explained by two things - what you eat and what you not do. Since the cause has been reduced to simpler terms, people opt to go for a healthier diet plan that usually lasts them for a month, then they whirlwind back to eating unhealthy stuff. And when they try to engage in more physical activities, as soon as schedules don't seem to match, they give exercising up altogether.
The mounting evidence of the relevance of when food intake is growing popularity. Maybe it is not just what you eat, but when this intake is actually done.
The idea is grounded on the concept that the human body reacts to the food differently at different times. Ancient medical studies show that the energy that flows in the body is somehow parallel to the movement of the sun throughout the day. Accordingly, 7-9am is the energy is concentrated on the stomach, 9-11am is on the pancreas and 11 am to 1 pm is the time of the heart and the list goes on.
Scientists believe that late night eating is the primary reason why people are gaining weight. Because they lose all opportunity to burn the calories, even if they choose to eat healthy late at night, they don't burn the calories, they just gain all the fat.
Jonathan Johnston a researcher at the University of Surrey says, "People think that our bodies shut down when we go to sleep but that's not really the case." He further added it still works but it is slower than when we are awake. Late night eating also gives less time for the digestive system to do their job, reducing the body's capacity to burn fat.
The point of Circadian clocks is simple. Eating right will do you good, but eating at the right time will help your body do better. It may seem like an odd thing to do, but it comes with rules that are very simple to follow - eat right at the right time and you'll trim down those inches off the waist without even trying too hard.
