Kamijou is a second-year university student from Japan. He wakes up very late every morning and goes to class without eating anything. After arriving at school, buying a bread and a drink becomes his unchanging breakfast. If his first class is early, he eats breakfast early; if it's late, he might not eat until past 11 AM. At night, sometimes he reads and studies until around midnight, feels hungry, and then eats some sweets before going to bed. As a result, he is not only very overweight, but also finds it difficult to lose weight. In Japan, there are many people like Kamijou, especially young people. Japanese medical experts have recently pointed out that eating late in the morning is not only unhealthy but can also easily lead to obesity.
According to a recent report in the Asahi Shimbun, a research group led by Professor Nakamura Tei of Kanagawa University of Human Services found that people who habitually eat "early" are more likely to avoid obesity than those who habitually eat "late." This conclusion was reached after investigating the relationship between meal times and energy expenditure. Researchers divided the subjects into two groups: one group ate early, with breakfast, lunch, and dinner at 7 AM, 1 PM, and 7 PM respectively; the other group had breakfast at 1 PM, lunch at 7 PM, and dinner at 1 AM. The results showed that although both groups ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner at six-hour intervals, the group that ate late at night consumed less energy and therefore was more prone to obesity; the group that ate early had a more "powerful" energy consumption function and was less likely to become obese. People who ate early breakfast consumed an average of 0.905 kcal per kilogram of body weight, while those who ate late consumed an average of 0.595 kcal per kilogram. This result greatly surprised Professor Nakamura Tei. Therefore, he speculates that the amount of energy the human body consumes may be closely related to the autonomic nervous system, which regulates the function of internal organs.
Experts believe that with the development of entertainment activities such as television and games, people's lifestyles are increasingly inclined towards nighttime activities, a phenomenon that is particularly evident in large cities like Tokyo. Eating too late not only leads to obesity but can also trigger a series of "derivative diseases" such as diabetes and chronic gastritis. Therefore, to maintain a healthy body, it is best to follow the natural rhythm of waking up and eating early.