A smarter approach to eating: Why isn't calorie counting enough?

Every individual is keen to know the time of day they eat, how fast they eat, and even how much they chew can affect how many calories you get from it. There’s a complex biological interaction taking place inside our bodies influenced by the type of food we eat and how quickly we consume it.

A diet filled with fresh vegetables is undoubtedly better for you than one dominated by cheeseburgers. However, it’s far from the only consideration as the timing of food also plays a crucial role in how well we digest it and what nutrients our bodies extract. 

One study showed that overweight and obese women lost more weight when they consumed the majority of their calories at breakfast, compared to those who ate the most in the evening- even though they were eating the same total number of calories.

Another small study by researchers in the UK found that reducing the amount of time between your first and last meal of the day may lead you to eat fewer calories overall. Scientists believe that this could be because our circadian rhythms are connected to how we digest and metabolize our food-an emerging field of research known as chrono nutrition.

Similarly, eating earlier can help too, as researchers in Spain found that those who ate lunch earlier lost weight or maintained a lower weight more easily than those who ate after 15:00. When we eat food, the number of calories we absorb depends on the structure of the food’s structure, which determines how easily the nutrients are released. 

Changing the structure of the food alters its texture, how quickly it is metabolized, where it is metabolised, and where the nutrients are absorbed.