Mealtimes Impact Fat Tissue Growth

Are you a healthy eater? If yes, that's good. But you should also make sure that you have timely eating habits. Researchers now say that following regular meal timings helps maintain healthy fat over time.

This preclinical study was based on Hyperplastic expansion of white adipose tissue (WAT). The findings were published in Nature. The study was led by researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

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‘Adipocytes make up the tissues that store body fats. Having regular mealtimes encourages the rhythmic growth of adipocyte progenitor cells.’

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"In an ideal world, everyone would maintain a normal sleep-wake cycle and not eat during the wrong hours of the day, so not too late before bed or into the early morning," said Kristin Eckel-Mahan, Ph.D., lead author of the study.

What are adipose tissues?

Adipose tissue is a loose connective tissue that stores body fat. It is made of adipocytes, the fat cells.

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White adipose tissues are predominant in mammals. They are life-savers during fasting periods as they release the previously stored fat as fatty acids.

Hyperplasia refers to an increase in the count of cells.

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What did the study find?

The team used animal models to study the relationship between mealtimes and fat tissue growth. They introduced a high-fat diet and changes in mealtimes among the models.

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Key takeaways:

1. Under standard meal patterns, adipocyte progenitor cells undergo rhythmic proliferation on a daily basis.

2. High-fat diet and mealtime changes disturbed this rhythm and caused an increase in proliferation.

"The 24-hour clock we have is important when it comes to our healthy fat, and we need to protect it as much as we can," said first author Aleix Ribas-Latre, Ph.D.

The study emphasized the need to steer away from high-fat diets, which could cause excess fat storage in muscles, resulting in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and insulin resistance.

Source-Medindia