According to the experimental design, starting on the third day of the delayed meal protocol, the participants postponed three meals per day until 1:10 pm and 5:20 pm. and 21:30. They ate the same three meals as in the early feeding protocol, but they were 250 minutes late, or about four hours.

In the weeks leading up to each protocol, study participants adhered to consistent sleep-wake schedules, and during the three days prior to entering the lab, strictly adhered to the diet and meal times at home. In the lab, they regularly documented their hunger and appetite, often donated small blood samples throughout the day, and measured their body temperature and energy expenditure. Follow Us To Find Out More: Kpop Pantip

To measure how feeding timing affects the molecular pathways involved in body fat storage, the researchers collected fat biopsies from a subset of participants during laboratory trials of the early and late feeding protocols.

They found that eating later in life significantly affects the hunger and appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin. Leptin levels, which indicate that the body is full, decreased by 24 hours with the late feeding compared to the early feeding. Follow Us To Find Out More: Kpop Pantip