Everyday Systems

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... Blanc.html

Why just women?

Anyway, I wouldn't rush to take a chef's advice on diet (Jamie Oliver drives me round the bend!), but this seems sensible enough - avoid snacking, don't eat in the late evening, one glass of wine is OK but not six, cook with small amounts of butter, eat a varied diet. It fits well with No S.

Scientists warned last year found that eating while we stay up to browse the internet or watch a late film is likely to be contributing to rising obesity levels.

The research came after tests on mice. One group were allowed to eat only during an eight-hour period, while a second group could graze on what they wanted all day and night. US researchers found that even though the two groups were eating about the same amount of calories, those who ate at set times during the day did not become obese.

They suggest that those who ate when they wanted to gained weight because they disrupted their body clock – and they believe the same principle may apply to humans.

Don't eat after 7 p.m.? That would mean skipping dinner in France.

Reinhard's still the only one, IMHO, who's hit on a really good version for the average bear, not the outliers, necessarily, of "just do this to lose weight." I think it should be mandatory for 80% of the overweight to use it faithfully for two years. Then they can modify up the yin yang.

OK, I'm exaggerating, but really.

And I certainly agree regarding why it's only women who need to rein it in. Hmph!

Did the experiment let the mice play on their ipads while they were snacking?

Maybe his fiancee broke up with him because he cut off her food supply at 7.

Personally, I think it's the total number of calories one consumes in a 24 hour period, not when the calories are consumed that determines whether weight is gained or lost. There is no magic about 7 pm!

That was what was funny about the experiment: the two groups of mice were eating the same number of calories, but the grazers got fat and the regular eaters didn't.

What is doubly weird about it is that I am fairly sure that mice are naturally grazers anyway, so the whole study is somewhat moot, in my opinion.

Whenever the mice ate and lost weight, I still at this point don't want to fit my eating into an 8-hour window. I'll live with the extra chub for now.

NoS is also based on how many of the "slim" cultures live. So all of Southern Europe completely defies this 7pm rule. Italy, Spain, France,...

So to me this doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

The advice is aimed at the UK, and I think he's imagining that we still eat our evening meals early. I personally usually eat by 7pm, but I think a lot of people in the UK can't manage it now, due to working late and commuting, etc.

Dale wrote:The advice is aimed at the UK, and I think he's imagining that we still eat our evening meals early. I personally usually eat by 7pm, but I think a lot of people in the UK can't manage it now, due to working late and commuting, etc.

Yeah, I think the point is "don't snack all evening" rather than "if you don't have dinner before 7, tough luck". Traditionally, British families *would* eat dinner around 5 or 6, so by 7 should be finished eating for the day (though as you said that seems to be changing). I've also seen the argument that if you eat too close to bedtime it can disrupt your sleep, and not sleeping enough can contribute to gaining/holding onto weight.

Even so, 7 is a rather arbitrary number and I prefer it when it's worded as "don't snack after dinner" and/or "eat dinner several hours before bed". Both of those statements, at least when I've seen variations on them, tend to come with explanations, rather than the expectation that you should simply follow what the expert says on faith.