Nutrition

Bulletproof Coffee introduced the idea of 'coffee hacking' and the use of butter in morning coffee. As a result, it has become something of an internet sensation. People are talking about it. Many even claim that it works wonders for them.

But what is it about this magical concoction that makes people want to spice up their coffee? More importantly, do the results actually match the hype surrounding Bulletproof Coffee?

"Hacking": the quest to improve everything.

Everyone knows that a healthy lifestyle is a journey - not a destination.

In fact, it's a lifelong journey defined by the "relax, slow down and take it one day at a time" approach we use in our nutrition programs for men and women.

But who doesn't love shortcuts? Or tweaks or tricks?

Welcome to the hack - a way to improve, customize and/or make a process more streamlined - just like a computer hacker manipulating the original software.

"Hacking" has become a defining concept in our culture. There is Ikea hacking(http://www.ikeahackers.net/). Body hacking. And if you go the full distance - life hacking.

In the training and nutrition world, if you're more advanced, you may have asked yourself the following:

"Is there any way I could hack my nutrition or fitness?"

Or maybe you're bored with your morning brew:

"Is there a way I could make my coffee more scientific and amazing?"

And if you're that kind of curious person who's always looking for better ways to do things, then you may have already stumbled across Bulletproof Coffee.

What is Bulletproof Coffee?

Bulletproof Coffee (BPC) is actually a recipe.

Basically, it's a combination of coffee, butter from grass-fed cattle and MCT oil (oil made from medium-chain triglycerides.

(Some people even add nootropics - cognitive enhancing supplements or medications - to the mix).

Of course, not just any coffee is suitable for Bulletproof Coffee. You can't just pick up a coffee from the discount store and think it's fine. Remember that hacks need to be optimal.

This is why people rave about so-called Upgraded™ Coffee. (Yes, that's a registered trademark.)

Proponents of Upgraded™ Coffee claim that it improves energy, mood, productivity and overall health... much more than regular old coffee.

Plus, unlike regular coffee, Upgraded™ Coffee is said to be free of mycotoxins (we'll get into this in a bit). This is next-level space age stuff - right here, right now.

Here's the recipe:

• 2 cups (500 ml) black Upgraded™ Coffee
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) unsalted butter from grass-fed cows (or more, up to 80 grams)
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of MCT oil
• Blend (ideally with a high-speed blender) until the oil emulsifies and the coffee looks like a latte macchiato.

Fans of Bulletproof Coffee claim that it is satisfying, kills hunger, eliminates inner restlessness caused by high coffee consumption and will keep the coffee drinker in a good mood all day long.

Are these claims realistic?

It's time to investigate.

First, I'll take a look at what the science has to say about coffee, mycotoxins, saturated fat and MCTs. Then I'll try a Bulletproof Coffee myself.

Let's start with the coffee

Is it good for you or is it bad for you?

Based on the scientific research on this topic, it's hard to make a blanket statement about coffee.

As is often the case in the field of nutritional science, the data on coffee is correlational. Correlational data tells us nothing about cause and effect. It merely tells us which things tend to be associated with each other.

The potential benefits of coffee

On the one hand, regular coffee consumption (1 to 3 cups per day) is consistently associated with a lower risk of the following:

• Diabetes
• Alzheimer's disease
• Parkinson's disease
• Many types of cancer
• Overall mortality

Coffee and caffeine are also widely recognized boosters of physical and mental performance.

The potential harmful effects of coffee

Unfortunately, many of the potential benefits seem to disappear if we drink too much coffee - say more than 3 cups a day.

Coffee consumption has also been linked to the following:

• A higher risk of miscarriage
• Disturbed sleep
• Exacerbation of PMS symptoms
• Increased blood pressure - even in people who do not suffer from high blood pressure.

So we have mixed results here. There is no clear winner.

The benefits (or detrimental effects) of coffee definitely seem to depend, at least in part, on how much we drink.

But there could also be other factors, such as:

Caffeine metabolism

One reason coffee studies are so difficult to interpret is that people are so different. For genetic reasons, we don't all react to coffee in the same way.

About half of those reading this are... a little slow.

No, seriously, about half of all people have genes that make them slow caffeine metabolizers. If you're one of those "slow caffeine changers" and you drink a lot of coffee, then your risk for things like heart disease increases.

The other half of people are "fast" caffeine metabolizers. These people have won the genetic lottery here - habitual coffee consumption lowers their risk of heart disease. (If you're in this group, don't get too cocky now. You still need to limit your coffee consumption to about 3 cups a day to see benefits).

Of course, there are many other factors involved in maintaining good health and avoiding cardiovascular disease. But if you are interested in nutrition and fitness (and I assume you are), then you will probably control all the factors you can.

But there is another risk factor that you may not have heard about: Mycotoxins.

Do mycotoxins play a role?

Much of the discussion about Bulletproof Coffee centers around the potential mycotoxin content of coffee.

"Myco" comes from the Greek word mukēs, which refers to fungi. Coffee is grown in tropical countries near the equator. And due to the climatic conditions prevailing in these countries, fungal growth is more common there.

Mycotoxins are a type of potentially toxic mold (more specifically, metabolic products produced by the fungi) that can develop on coffee beans and other foods.

Scientists have known for decades that high intakes of mycotoxins can cause health problems in humans and animals.

There are six primary mycotoxin strands - aflatoxins, ochratoxins, citrinin, ergotamine alkaloid, patulin and fusarium - that commonly appear on or in food products.

As with many environmental compounds, the dose makes the poison with mycotoxins. As early as 1980, scientists noted that:

• Mycotoxins are not commonly found in commercial coffee products
• When mycotoxins are present, their levels are low
• Roasting destroys 70 to 80% of mycotoxins (and recent studies even show a reduction of 69 to 96%)

However, these are not universal results. More recent studies have come to some different conclusions.

Ochratoxin A (OTA)

When it comes to coffee, ochratoxin A (OTA) is the most studied mycotoxin. It is toxic to the kidneys, it suppresses the immune system, it can cause birth defects and has been classified as a possible human carcinogen. That all sounds pretty bad.

In 1997, a team of scientists analyzed 633 coffee samples from several European countries and tested them in 9 different laboratories.

They found that more than half of the samples had no measurable levels of OTA and the rest had quite low levels.

According to their estimates, consuming 4 cups of coffee (about 900 ml) would provide about 19 nanograms of OTA.

In 2010, some French scientists tested 30 types of roasted coffee from French supermarkets. They found that a 300 ml serving contained 31 ng of OTA.

This is clearly substantially more than the rough 5 ng per 240 ml that the team of scientists found in 1997.

The scientists made the statement that OTA in coffee is generally underestimated because there are other substances in coffee that interfere with a quantitative determination of the OTA content. Therefore, the values of the second group of scientists were higher.

What is a safe amount of OTA?

Scientists are not sure how high a safe OTA dose would be:

Opinion 1: 1.5 nanograms per kilogram of body weight per day according to the Virtually Safe Dose (VSD) mentioned by the French scientists.

Opinion 2: 5ng/kg per day according to the European Commission and according to the FDA (the American health authority.

Opinion 3: 14.3 ng/kg per day according to the joint committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Okay, I weigh 86 kilos. Let's convert these figures to my weight.

Opinion 1: I would have to drink 5 to 27 cups of coffee a day to exceed the limit considered safe.

Opinion 2: I would have to drink 17 to 91 cups of coffee a day to exceed the limit considered safe.

Opinion 3: Over 250 cups per day.

Well, it looks like I'm not in any danger regardless of the limit used.

As I mentioned earlier, mycotoxins are also found in other foods. OTA is found in small amounts in raisins, cereals, peanuts, beer, wine and legumes.

A mixed diet that includes significant amounts of all of these foods, even combined with moderate coffee consumption (1 to 3 cups per day), will probably not put me over the safety limit for OTA consumption. That's right, even if I overdo it with peanuts and California raisins.

If:

• However, you are concerned with optimizing - perfecting - your intake
• You are still worried about OTAs and mycotoxins
• You have a very low risk tolerance
• You're willing to spend twice as much money for the same amount of coffee

Then you might feel more comfortable with something like Upgraded™ Coffee, which is supposedly low in mycotoxins.

But remember that - at least according to scientific research - most of the coffee you drink contains low levels of mycotoxins anyway.

And there is no evidence to suggest that this one brand of coffee has a lower mycotoxin content than any other brand.

Coffee with added fat

The second controversial component of Bulletproof Coffee is the added rich amount of saturated fat and the total amount of fat - in the form of butter and MCT oil.

While Bulletproof Coffee may seem like modern chemistry to you, the idea of adding butter to this brew is not new to traditional Ethiopians (who sometimes add butter to their coffee) or Mongolians (who drink yak butter tea).

So the whole thing is not really as strange as it might sound.

Fat and calories

I'll take another look at saturated fats and MCTs in a moment, but let's start with calories.

It should come as no surprise that you'll dramatically increase the calorie content of your coffee if you throw a big dollop of fat into your coffee - over ten times more calories than a standard coffee with creamer.

Comparison of the nutritional content of coffee with additives

Over 400 extra calories is a lot - especially if you drink more than one Bulletproof Coffee a day, as many people do

If Bulletproof Coffee is your "meal" - i.e. if you drink the coffee instead of having breakfast - then you can probably get away with the calories. You should also note that one cup of Bulletproof Coffee provides the same amount of fat as 12 (!) egg yolks.

You should also keep the following in mind: To make the rest of your food intake for the day adequately nutritious, you need to make sure you eat more protein, fruit and vegetables at other times.

You should also consider reducing your fat intake at other meals and you should eat primarily monounsaturated fats (avocado, nuts, olive oil) and polyunsaturated fats (nuts, seeds, fish oil) throughout the rest of the day to maintain your balance of different types of fat.

So what you save in time with Bulletproof Coffee, you could lose elsewhere through careful food preparation and planning to ensure you're eating healthily.

Saturated fats in context

At PN, we don't think too much about saturated fat. We think the whole "saturated fat will kill you faster than rat poison" hysteria is greatly exaggerated.

A reasonable amount of saturated fat in the form of whole food sources (coconut, dark chocolate, full-fat dairy, animal fat sources) is perfectly fine, especially if you eat a wide variety of minimally processed foods such as vegetables, fruits, proteins, whole grains and other healthy fats.

Three recent literature reviews have openly stated that there is no significant association between consumption of dairy products, including full-fat dairy products, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

However, this does not mean that saturated fats are completely harmless. Or that you should consume your daily amount of fat in the form of saturated fat all at once.

This is especially true if you are not eating a balanced, nutritious diet at other times.

Saturated fats and indicators of blood lipid levels

We won't give you a complete overview of lipodology in this article, but here are some things to keep in mind.

Many clinical studies have shown that when people suddenly increase their consumption of things like coconut oil (which is the richest source of MCTs), their blood lipid levels increase dramatically.

Here's an example from 2013, published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology. A 52-year-old woman started eating coconut oil every day.

Her blood lipid levels were as follows:

• Total cholesterol: 303
• LDL cholesterol: 178
• HDL cholesterol: 106
• Triglycerides: 94
• Non-HDL cholesterol: 197

The doctors then advised her to stop her daily supplementation with coconut oil. Her blood lipid levels dropped dramatically after just 6 weeks:

• Total cholesterol: 201
• LDL cholesterol: 127
• HDL cholesterol: 58
• Triglycerides: 77
• Non-HDL cholesterol: 197

Many will now argue that blood lipid levels don't matter because cholesterol is not the real problem.

While this may be technically true, there are elements of blood lipids that definitely increase the risk of heart disease.

• Total LDL particles (as well as apolipoprotein B particles, which are the carriers of all non-HDL cholesterol including LDL cholesterol) appear to be the best predictor of cardiovascular disease risk.
• Non-HDL cholesterol is a good proxy for this measurement (since it requires complicated lab tests to determine LDL particles or apoB levels).
• Your HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol are simply the cholesterol content of these particles and say nothing about the size or number of particles (and there could be other components of these lipoprotein particles besides cholesterol).

The non-HDL cholesterol levels of the aforementioned patient dropped quickly after she stopped excessive saturated fat supplementation, suggesting that the number of her LDL particles (as well as her aopB particles) had increased due to the coconut oil.

In other words, the extra coconut oil appears to have increased their risk of heart disease.

Dr. Spencer Nadolsky studied more than 100 patients who followed the Bulletproof Coffee protocol. Many came to him with skyrocketing levels of LDL/apoB particles. After they stopped the protocol, these blood markers dropped back to normal.

Here is a case study of one of his patients in his own words.

Bulletproof Coffee case study

How does Bulletproof Coffee affect blood lipid levels? Let's examine this with this case study.

A 25 year old man came to me to have his blood levels checked.

He had no health problems. All he wanted was a comprehensive lipid/lipoprotein lab test

I had the number of LDL particles (LDL-P), apoB levels and a regular cholsterol/lipid blood count done.

His levels were very high, with his LDL particles at 2759 nmol/l and his LDL cholesterol at 253 mg/dl.

I was concerned that this patient might have a family history of hypercholesterolemia and would need a statin (a cholesterol-lowering medication).

I asked him about his diet at the following appointment. He told me that he followed a very low-carb, high-fat Paleo diet. I had a few patients who were eating this way but had much better blood lipid levels, so I asked him for a few specifics.

He told me that he started his day with a Bulletproof Coffee, in which he put heaps of butter. I told him to stop drinking the Bulletproof Coffee so that we could run new tests after a few months.

On these tests, his LDL particles had dropped to below 1683 nmol/L and his LDL cholesterol to 161 mg/dl. Both values are still in the higher range, but definitely do not require medication.

Was it simply the extra calories he was eating or was it the excessive amounts of saturated fat that had altered his LDL cholesterol/apoB metabolism?

I'm not sure, but I've seen this happen more often. It seems to be a trend: many people who consume Bulletproof Coffee have high blood lipid levels, even if not all Bulletproof Coffee consumers do. As soon as people with super high blood lipid levels stop consuming Bulletproof Coffee, their blood lipid levels fall back to normal.

What does this mean?

As with coffee and caffeine, there could be genetic or environmental differences in the way the body deals with extra saturated fat.

Blood lipid levels will rise dramatically in some people if they consume too much saturated fat. Other people, however, will have no problems at all.

The only way to find out is to have your blood lipid levels tested.

If you're a Bulletproof Coffee fan (or at least trying to be) and you're passionate about your low-carb, high-fat diet, then you should get your blood lipid levels checked:

• If your blood tests show no changes in your blood lipid levels and an overall healthy lipid profile, you can continue doing what you're doing.
• However, if your blood test results show elevated blood lipid levels, then you should consider making some changes to your fat intake.

Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs)

Along with superstar coffee and high-end butter, medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) also contribute to the chemical appeal of Bulletproof Coffee.

Fat normally has to be packaged into lipoproteins, then enters the lymphatic system and subsequently the bloodstream.

MCTs are a special type of fat that is absorbed by the portal vein and transported directly to the liver, bypassing the normal digestion and absorption of fat.

The scientific research on MCTs is a bit of a mixed bag:

• MCTs don't seem to satiate better than other fats. In a 2012 systematic review of the MCT literature, only one of 7 studies concluded that MCTs improved satiety.
• MCTs could help people slim down and improve their body composition. The 2012 review found that 6 out of 8 studies conducted with MCTs showed a positive effect on body composition or body weight. While these results are promising, they were generally studies of relatively short duration, ranging from 4 to 16 weeks. And these studies tended to show poor overall dietary composition (such as inadequate protein intake).
• Adding MCTs to a diet will not result in sudden fat loss. You will still need to maintain a calorie deficit.
• MCTs may help the body burn more calories than other sources of fat. However, this benefit is only modest in nature. And it must be weighed against potential problems with blood lipid levels.
• MCTs may have some modest benefits in terms of body composition, but only if they are used in place of other sources of fat or calories. On their own, MCTs will not magically make you slimmer.

BSP's Bulletproof Coffee Experiment

OK, that was the clinical research.

Now it's time to try it out for yourself.

I ordered a Bulletproof Coffee Kit - Brain Octane Edition. This included 2 bags of Upgraded™ Coffee and 1 jar of Upgraded™ Brain Octane Oil (100% MCT oil). Total cost: $64.95 USD.

And I bought with unsalted butter from grass-fed cows (Kerrygold, as recommended). Total price: $4.99 USD.

Experiment 1: Black Upgraded™ Coffee

Protocol: Pure coffee, no extra stuff.

Result: Delicious. This coffee definitely tasted like high quality coffee. My wife agreed and told me how good the coffee tasted to her. It definitely helped me clear my head a bit and I felt good after this coffee. But I can't say for sure if I felt better or worse than after my usual coffee, which I usually drink first thing in the morning.

Possible adulteration: Freshly ground coffee beans. These will always taste better than pre-ground coffee.

I usually buy ground coffee because it's more convenient and because I make and drink my coffee when my kids are still asleep. Grinding my coffee beans every morning is simply not an option - at least not until they get old enough and I can train them to make daddy's coffee.

Experiment 2: The Full Bulletproof Coffee

Protocol: About 2 hours later, I got serious. I followed the Bulletproof Coffee recipe carefully:

• 500 ml (2 cups) Upgraded™ Coffee
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) unsalted Kerrygold butter from grass-fed cows
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) Upgraded™ Brain Octane Oil (100% MCT oil)

I blended all the ingredients with my 1500 watt Ninja Blender until there was a thick layer of foam on top of the coffee.

Result: This coffee tasted quite good. I usually drink coffee almost exclusively black, so I can't compare the taste and feel to other fancy blends. The coffee was very rich and a little greasy. But still pleasant.

I definitely felt energized and alert. But that's normal for me.

I didn't feel shaky, anxious, paranoid or like I was shooing invisible bugs off my skin. Everything was normal. I've had 3 cups of coffee in a day before and I can handle my brew like a man.

Possible problem: OK, "too much information" time. As many people, myself included, have found out through... uh... experimental learning, stomach problems are common with large amounts of MCT and butter.

If you want to try Bulletproof Coffee, you should start with less fat and slowly increase the amount. Otherwise you'll be running to the toilet pretty quickly.

Was Bulletproof Coffee an amazing, spiritual-chemical experience?

Not really. I enjoyed it, but it was nothing really out of the ordinary.

I wonder if some of the effects people feel are simply down to the magic of caffeine - or maybe a bit of the good old placebo effect. If you've spent a lot of money on coffee and gone to all the trouble of making it, then you'll probably really want it to work.

What that means for you

Experiment, carefully collect the data and draw informed conclusions about what works for you. As you may know, the only "science" that really matters is the response of your own unique body.

In moderate amounts, coffee is reasonably healthy for most people. Keep your coffee consumption under 3 cups a day and you should be in the green zone even as a slow caffeine metabolizer.

Mycotoxins don't seem to be a big problem with coffee. They are also found in other foods. Nevertheless, the amounts are usually small.

Focus on the big picture. Take care of the basics before worrying about the details. Eat a varied and nutritious diet with minimally processed foods. Make sure you have a balanced fat intake and consume most of this fat in the form of real food.

If you're curious, keen to experiment, concerned about coffee quality and have money to burn, then you can try Bulletproof Coffee. But stay on the safe and sensible side. Do you really need 54 grams of fat in your coffee? Could you do with less?

Consider other coffee "hacks" as well. In reality, you probably won't experience significant benefits from most coffee hacks beyond what you get from regular coffee or tea.

Get your blood levels checked. Your blood lipid levels are a sure way to find out what's happening in your body. If you're experimenting with extremely high-fat coffee, see a doctor to find out what's in your veins.

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Source: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/bulletproof-coffee

• If eating late at night impairs fat loss, why do people who eat more in the evening lose more fat than people who don't?
• If carbs make you fat after 6pm, how is it that people who eat more carbs after 6pm lose more fat than people who eat their carbs earlier in the day?
• If we should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar, why does skipping breakfast combined with late night binge eating lead to fat loss and improved blood lipid levels?
• If eating late is bad for you, why does almost every controlled scientific study show that eating later in the day is better than eating earlier in the day? And if the above statements are true, why do people still believe that eating late is bad for you...?

The myth of eating late

There is a common belief among many people that it is better to eat more earlier in the day and less later in the day. Eating later in the day is said to impair fat loss and/or promote unwanted weight gain. This myth can best be summarized by the saying that you should eat like a king in the morning, like a prince at lunchtime and like a beggar in the evening.

You'll often find people clinging to the myth that carbohydrates will somehow suddenly make you fatter after 6pm - which is, of course, complete nonsense.

The facts on this are more interesting than what I have already said in previous articles on this topic. Controlled studies have repeatedly shown that a dietary pattern of eating later in the day is superior for fat loss and body composition.

In this article, I will look at some studies that look at the timing of calorie intake. I'll pay a little more attention to the last study, titled "Greater Weight Loss and Hormonal Changes After 6 Months Diet With Carbohydrates Eaten Mostly at Dinner," because it's the one that got me looking at this topic again in the first place.

A pressing question first: why is the myth about the negative effects of eating late at night still so widespread when there are so many studies showing the exact opposite?

Late night eating in nutritional epidemiology

In the comments on my site, a reader asked the following question:

"Is it okay to eat dinner 1 to 2 hours before bedtime? Every damn mammal goes to sleep after eating massive amounts of food - e.g. lions, dogs, bears, but at some point nutritionists came to the conclusion that we have somehow evolved. It would therefore be nice if someone could produce scientific evidence to show that we shouldn't eat before bedtime. I really don't understand why this should be the case, do you have an explanation for me?" Yes, how did nutrition experts come to the conclusion that eating before bedtime is bad for you?

The late night eating myth is mainly another consequence of the confusion between correlation and causation in the field of nutritional epidemiology. There are numerous observational studies that have observed a positive correlation between calories consumed in the evening and higher BMI in the general population. This correlation can be attributed to the fact that the average person who likes to eat more in the evening also consumes more calories overall. One study used food logs to find that late-night eaters consumed an average of 248 kcal more than members of the other group.

Similar relationships can usually be found in other observational studies on meal patterns. People who skip breakfast, skip other meals and eat late at night are on average fatter and worse off than people who eat breakfast, eat regular meals and eat less in the evening. However, this has nothing to do with meal timing per se, but more with the lifestyle that goes hand in hand with "dysregulated" eating habits.

A meal pattern that skips breakfast or breakfast and lunch has been associated with an accumulation of less healthy lifestyle factors and poorer food choices, leading to an overall poorer diet. ("Meal pattern, food choice, nutrient intake and lifestyle factors in The Göteborg Adolescence Study", https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14647222)

Late night eating was correlated not only with higher calorie intake, but also with less sleep time and more sedentary activities such as watching TV and spending time in front of the computer, which are other confounding factors that can promote weight gain.

Shift work and the internal clock

The purported risks of late-night eating may also be the result of the scientific literature on shift workers and metabolic health ("Shift work and the risk of metabolic syndrome: a nested case-control study.", https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21618947). Shift workers are predisposed to a variety of health problems, obesity, poor mental health, cardiovascular disease, stomach ulcers and gastrointestinal problems (probably the result of chronic stress). The negative effects of shift work on health are mainly the result of a compromised diet, sleep deprivation and stress - the factors tend to go hand in hand. However, it is possible that eating in a state of disrupted day-night rhythm and an irregular meal pattern is an independent factor in predisposing shift workers to poor health.

People can adapt to a variety of different eating patterns depending on their habitual meal pattern. This adaptation takes place at a cellular level and is regulated by ghrelin - a hormone that is released in greater quantities during habitual mealtimes and prepares your metabolism to best cope with the upcoming load of food. Similarly, the day-night rhythm - when you wake up and when you go to sleep - is regulated by daylight and the habitual sleep/wake cycle and also adjusts your metabolism accordingly.

Simply put, your body expects a certain routine every day depending on your habitual eating patterns and sleep/wake rhythm and adjusts its hormonal profile and metabolism. If this pattern is arbitrary and constantly shifted forward and backward, never allowing your body to adjust, as is the case with many shift workers, then it is very possible that this is an independent factor that makes people more susceptible to disease and health problems. The hormonal profile of shift workers, moreover, tends to be less favorable than that of people with a regular circadian rhythm.

It should be noted that permanent shift workers, i.e. those who always work at night or work several nights in a row, are better off than other shift workers, which can be partly explained by a change in the day-night rhythm. It seems that an "unpredictable" schedule, i.e. rotating day and night shifts, is the main culprit, as the day-night rhythm is constantly disrupted. Given the many confounding factors such as stress, sleep deprivation, caloric intake, etc. present in shift workers, it is difficult to isolate which factor is responsible for what - i.e. is food intake during the biological night worse than sleep deprivation, etc.

Nutritional epidemiology vs. controlled studies

We are not interested in the studies mentioned above. What we are interested in are controlled studies - not nutritional epidemiology and observation in the general population. If you use nutritional epidemiology to tell people how they should eat, then you get the typical food pyramid. If you use controlled studies to draw your conclusions, you get something that is more meat- and vegetable-heavy.

Controlled studies answer questions like "I'm on a 2000 kcal diet. How will my fat loss be affected if I eat most of those calories later in the day or if I eat more of those calories earlier in the day?" This is something we are interested in, so let's take a closer look.

Early eating vs. later eating regimens: controlled studies

In all of these studies, calories were controlled and fixed in all groups. The only variable that differed was the timing of the daily calorie intake. In the later meal pattern, 67 to 100% of calories were consumed between 18:00 and bedtime and this was compared to an earlier meal pattern with the opposite timing of calories. Let's start with the earliest study and work our way up to the most recent. I will briefly summarize the results, comment on the validity of the study, and interject whatever I find interesting about this study.

I want to note that I did not include any studies on Ramadan fasting. In only loosely controlled studies of Ramadan fasting, fat loss and improvements in health markers are usually observed. This is a paradoxical and interesting observation due to the fact that people eat in the middle of the night just before going to bed and usually eat even more sugar and baked goods than usual (and sometimes even more calories). However, in these studies, calorie intake is rarely actually controlled, i.e. participants did not have strict guidelines on what they should eat, which is the reason I did not use these studies in this review.

Study #1

Chronobiological aspects of weight loss in obesity: effects of different meal timing regimens. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3508745) (Chronobiological aspects of weight loss in obesity: effects of different meal timing regimens)

Results: This first-ever calorie-controlled study on meal timing, conducted in 1987, found that weight loss did not differ if subjects ate their daily calorie intake in the morning (10 am) or evening (6 pm).

Although it is interesting to note that fat oxidation was consistently higher in the group that ate in the evening, the duration of the study (15 days) was very short, making it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from it. Apart from the differences in fat oxidation, there were no differences in cortisol levels, blood pressure or resting energy expenditure between the two groups.

Study #2

The role of breakfast in the treatment of obesity: a randomized clinical trial. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1550038) (The role of breakfast in the treatment of obesity: a randomized clinical trial).

Results: In this well-designed 12-week study, the subjects were people who habitually ate breakfast and people who did not normally eat breakfast. Interestingly, fat loss was greatest in people who normally ate breakfast but skipped breakfast during the study. This group ate lunch and dinner and consumed 2/3 of their daily calories at dinner (6:00 pm or later). The subjects who did not normally eat breakfast and who now ate breakfast achieved more positive results than those who continued to skip breakfast as usual. The implication of these seemingly paradoxical results could be related to impulse control - dysregulated eating habits such as not eating breakfast tend to go hand in hand with unrestrained or impulsive eating. Eating breakfast could therefore be beneficial for those with poor self-control, such as the former breakfast deniers in the study.

On the other hand, more desirable results could be achieved for the "controlled" eaters (habitual breakfast eaters) who now abstained from breakfast. This group would be more representative of us - i.e. people who are used to counting calories, following an organized diet and not just carelessly eating what is in front of us. Incidentally, there were no differences between the groups in terms of weight loss composition (75% fat / 25% lean body mass) or metabolic rate at rest. Interesting tidbit: The group that ate breakfast showed a slight increase in depression-induced eating, while subjects in the group that did not eat breakfast showed a slight reduction. In addition, subjects in the breakfast group viewed their diet as more restrictive than subjects in the group that did not eat breakfast.

Here is a quote from the study:

"...the larger meal size in the group that did not eat breakfast caused less disruption to meal schedules and social life than the smaller meal size in the group that ate breakfast."

Perhaps it was these beneficial effects on social life that also resulted in the non-breakfast group showing better continued adherence to the modified diet during the 6 months following the study (81% vs 60%).

Study #3

Weight loss is greater with consumption of large morning meals and fat-free mass is preserved with large evening meals in women on a controlled weight reduction regimen.

(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9040548) (Weight loss is greater with consumption of large morning meals but fat-free mass is better preserved with large evening meals in women on a controlled weight reduction regimen). Results: In this study, subjects alternated between two 6-week phases of the same diet in which 70% of daily calories were consumed either in the morning or evening. Larger morning meals compared to larger evening meals resulted in greater weight loss, but this weight loss consisted of muscle mass. Overall, larger evening meals maintained existing muscle mass better and resulted in a greater reduction in body fat percentage.

The greater weight loss associated with the larger morning meal eating pattern was primarily due to a loss of lean body mass, which was on average about 1 kilogram higher in the larger morning meal group than in the larger evening meal group.

An interesting study with a few obvious limitations, mainly that the number of subjects was very small at 10 participants and that body composition was measured using electrical conductivity - a method that is chronically inaccurate.

This study also included training with weights three times a week, which was a serious confounding factor in this study. Considering that the group that ate the most calories later in the day ate a greater percentage of their calories after exercise, this study may also simply show the benefits of nutrient timing rather than larger meals in the evening per se.

Setup with larger food intake in the morning

• Breakfast, 8:00-8:30am: 35% of daily calorie intake
• Training with weights (circuit training), 9:00-9:30 a.m.
• Lunch, 11:00-12:00: 35% of daily calorie intake
• Dinner, 16:30-17:00: 15% of the daily calorie intake
• Evening snack, 20:00-20:30: 15% of the daily calorie intake

Setup for larger food intake in the evening

• Breakfast, 8-8:30 a.m.: 15% of daily calorie intake
• Training with weights (circuit training), 9:00-9:30 a.m.
• Lunch, 11:00-12:00: 15% of daily calorie intake
• Dinner, 16:30-17:00: 35% of the daily calorie intake
• Evening snack, 20:00-20:30: 35% of daily calorie intake

Finally, the scientists speculated on the muscle-sparing effects of the meal pattern with larger meals later in the day:

"Certain endocrine influences may have contributed to the differences in lean body mass changes between meal schedules. Growth hormone secretion reflects an endogenous rhythm that is partially related to the sleep cycle. At night, pulsatile growth hormone secretion increases after 1 to 2 hours of sleep, with maximal secretion occurring during stages 3 and 4 of the day.

Although the effects of prolonged changes in food intake or meal pattern on growth hormone release are not known, it is conceivable that a greater influx of dietary amino acids at evening meals, combined with the known protein anabolic effects of growth hormone, could promote lean muscle mass gain.

Study #4

Influence of meal time on salivary circadian cortisol rhythms and weight loss in obese women. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17483007) (Effects of meal timing on salivary circadian cortisol rhythms and weight loss in obese women).

Results: Using exactly the same setup as the previously mentioned Sensi & Capani (1987) study, it was found that dividing daily caloric intake into five meals eaten every other hour between 9:00 am and 8:00 pm, eating all calories in the morning (9:00 am to 11:00 am) or eating all calories in the evening (6:00 pm to 8:00 pm) did not differentially affect weight loss, metabolic rate, or cortisol levels. The limitation was again a very short duration of each phase (18 days).

Here's a quote for those concerned about cortisol and fasting: "At the end of the phases of the study, we did not observe any significant changes in the diurnal rhythm of cortisol secretion, regardless of the timing of food intake, even after 22 hours of fasting."

It might be worth noting that nitrogen loss, which is a crude marker of muscle loss, was not affected by the timing or frequency of meals - there was no difference between the 5 meal phase and the 22 hour fasting phases in the morning/evening meals.

Study #5

Greater Weight Loss and Hormonal Changes After 6 Months Diet With Carbohydrates Eaten Mostly at Dinner. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21475137) (Greater Weight Loss and Hormonal Changes After 6 Months Diet With Carbohydrates Eaten Primarily at Dinner)

In this most recent and well-designed 6-month study of calorie distribution throughout the day, subjects who ate most of their daily carbohydrates at dinner (8:00 pm or later) lost more fat, felt fuller during the diet, and experienced more desirable hormonal changes than subjects who ate their carbohydrates earlier in the day. Background: This study is based on the premise that the daily peak of leptin levels can be altered, as can be observed during Ramadan. Previous studies have described the typical diurnal pattern of leptin secretion, which falls during the day from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, reaches its lowest point at 1:00 pm, rises from 4:00 pm and reaches its maximum at 1:00 am. Ironically, this important hormone, which is responsible for satiety, has its highest levels when we are asleep. It was hypothesized that consuming carbohydrates primarily in the evening could alter the typical diurnal pattern of leptin secretion as observed in Muslims during Ramadan.

Simply put, the aim of the study was to determine whether it is possible to shift leptin release to strategically achieve better satiety and dietary adherence in the morning and midday of the next day, rather than having the leptin peak during the night (as is the case with the standard diet). "...it was predicted that this diet would lead to higher relative leptin concentrations starting at 6:00 to 8:00 am and throughout the day. This could lead to increased satiety during the daytime hours and improve dietary adherence." At this point I should note that leptin shows a significant latency in response to carbohydrates - if you eat carbs before sleep, then you won't experience the peak of leptin release until you wake up in the morning (another bonus is that you'll sleep well with a few carbs before bedtime).

This study also wanted to examine the effects of the experimental diet on adiponectin:

"Adiponectin is thought to be the link between obesity, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. Adiponectin plays a role in energy regulation and fat and carbohydrate metabolism, reduces serum glucose and lipid levels, improves insulin sensitivity and has anti-inflammatory effects. The pattern of daily adiponectin release has been described as low during the day in obese individuals (especially those with greater abdominal fat deposition)." Low adiponectin levels = bad. High adiponectin levels = good. When insulin levels are low, adiponectin levels are high, but adiponectin also follows a diurnal rhythm - low during the night, high during the day (in normal weight people).

"...it has also been hypothesized that the increasing adiponectin levels during the day

adiponectin concentrations during the day would improve insulin resistance, reduce symptoms of metabolic syndrome and lower levels of inflammatory markers." In overweight people, chronically high insulin levels cause chronically low adinopectin levels, which is a problem because it increases insulin resistance and inflammation. The authors of the study hypothesized that by eliminating carbohydrates earlier in the day, adinopectin levels would increase more than with a conventional diet and health markers would also improve.

Setup: Both groups received the same diet split between breakfast, lunch and dinner and three snacks (morning, noon, late evening):

• 1300-1500 kcal
• 45-50% carbohydrates
• 30-35% fat
• 20% protein

Group A received the carbohydrates evenly distributed over meals and snacks. Group B received the majority of their total daily carbohydrate intake (approx. 170 grams) at dinner. There were no details regarding the exact macronutrient distribution of each meal, but the printed version of this paper includes the full meal plans for both groups. I would estimate that Group B consumed approximately 100 to 120 grams of carbohydrate during dinner.

Results: Both groups lost weight and saw improvements in different health markers, but Group B lost more weight (-11 kg vs. -9 kg), body fat (-7% vs. -5%), felt fuller and improved their hormonal profile better than Group A. "Hunger levels were lower and there were greater improvements in fasting blood glucose levels, average daily insulin concentrations and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMAIR), T-cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels compared to the control group." As predicted, the high-carbohydrate dinner was able to alter the levels of leptin and adiponectin in a way that promoted better satiety and a better hormonal profile.

"The experimental diet modified leptin and adiponectin concentrations compared to baseline and control diet levels. A simple dietary manipulation of carbohydrate distribution appears to have additional benefits in people suffering from obesity compared to a conventional weight loss diet." However, what I found most interesting - at least for those of us who want to maintain a low body fat percentage - was that the higher carbohydrate dinner increased average leptin levels compared to the standard diet. "Our experimental diet could manipulate daily leptin secretion and lead to higher relative concentrations throughout the day. We hypothesize that this modification of hormone release helped study participants achieve better satiety during the waking hours of the day, which improved diet adherence in the longer term and led to better anthropometric outcomes." This study was solid, but for some reason there was no mention of how body fat percentage was measured. In addition, calorie intake was not individualized and based on energy needs. However, since each subject had the same occupation (police officer), it is fair to assume that physical activities did not vary greatly on an individual basis. In addition, the sample size was quite large (78 subjects), making it unlikely that the results were biased by these factors.

Summary

Nutritional epidemiology usually finds associations between certain meal patterns and higher BMI/body fat percentage. However, the relationship can be attributed solely to lifestyle-related factors and dietary habits such as snacking while watching TV, generally poor food choices, etc. People who eat more in the evening simply consume more calories, which explains why they weigh more.

Calorie-controlled studies that look at the effects of varying the distribution of a fixed amount of calories throughout the day are few and far between - I've listed all of them above. These studies tell a completely different story than the studies found in the field of nutritional epidemiology. While short-term studies (15 to 18 days) find no statistically significant differences between meal regimens with earlier or later food intake, long-term studies (>12 weeks) show that dietary regimens with higher calorie intake later in the day produce superior results in terms of fat loss, body composition and/or diet adherence. This could be explained by more favorable post-meal nutrient partitioning due to hormonal modulation. I understand that these facts will be hard for some people to swallow considering all the negative things they've heard about late-night eating. But then again, we hear a lot of strange things in the health and fitness community. And rarely do these tales match reality - just think of all the myths about fasting, alcohol and meal frequency.

That's it for today. I hope you've enjoyed this article and are now reassured that there's nothing wrong with eating late and eating big meals before bedtime.

Source: https://leangains.com/is-late-night-eating-better-for-fat-loss-and-health/