Exercise May Protect Against Holiday Binge Eating, Suggests Small New Study

When it comes to holiday weight gain, the problem isn’t just one or two big meals; it’s the drawn-out stream of constant parties, cookies, dinners, leftovers, and “special occasions” throughout the entire season. Even just a few days of overindulging can have real effects—not just on your waistline, but on other ways overdoing it can affect your body, as well.

But the preliminary results of a small new study suggest that if you are going to overeat, there’s something you can do to protect against those negative effects: Exercise. And if you already work out on a regular basis, all you have to do is keep up with your normal routine.

This isn’t a total surprise, of course. It’s already known that as little as one week of overindulging can impair glycemic control and insulin sensitivity—processes that help the body process calories and keep blood sugar stable. (In fact, carb-heavy holiday meals can be downright dangerous for people with diabetes, for this reason.) And exercise has been shown to protect against some of these harmful effects.

But not much is known on how exercise can influence the body’s tendency to store excess calories during an overeating binge, or the structure and function of fat tissue itself. Its effect on inflammation—a response that's also triggered during overeating—is also not well understood.

So researchers at the University of Michigan wanted to see if a week of overindulging would have the same effects on regular exercisers as it does on people who aren’t physically active. To do so, they recruited a small sample of lean, healthy adults, some of whom got at least 150 minutes (and at least six days) of aerobic exercise per week and some who got much less.

The participants were tasked with eating 30 percent more calories than normal for seven days in a row, while continuing with their normal workout routines. (For someone who normally consumes 2,000 a day, that’s an extra 600 calories.) Before and after the experimental week, they provided samples of blood and abdominal-fat tissue.

The researchers presented their first results, on four participants in the exercise group, earlier this month at a conference sponsored by the American Physiological Society and the American College of Sports Medicine.

They found that, for these patients, a week of gluttony did not affect glucose tolerance. This finding matched those of previous studies on overeating and exercise.

But for the first time, the researchers also showed that overindulging also had no effect on markers of inflammation in volunteers blood or tissue samples. The researchers also found no change in lipolysis, a chemical process by which the body breaks down fast.

Lead author Alison Ludzki, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, says that the early results are not enough to determine any definite effects, of either overeating or exercise. Her team is in the process of recruiting and studying more participants, and hopes to have more complete data soon.

But she says that so far, they are seeing some trends to suggest metabolic differences between the groups of exercisers and non-exercisers. And that would make sense, she says, based on what’s already known about exercising and overeating.

“I think we can say that the big-picture advice here is that overeating, even for a short time, can signal some changes in the body—not just in fat, but in whole-body health,” she says. “And exercise definitely has some protective effects, especially when it comes to insulin sensitivity.”

Ludzki points out that the study participants didn’t have to do anything above and beyond their normal exercise routine to reap these protective benefits. “It was important to us that the study design was realistic and could reflect the average person who exercises regularly—not necessarily a high-level athlete.”

Laila Tabatabai, M.D., an endocrinologist and assistant professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, says that the findings presented at the conference—although too preliminary to inform any real conclusions—imply two important points.

“One, exercise is protective against the harmful effects of consuming excess calories,” says Tabatabai, who was not involved in the research, “and two, the adverse effects of overeating are measurable after just seven days of excess caloric intake.”

She does note, however, that lean and active adults may be better equipped to handle overeating in general—regardless of whether they exercise during their binge or not.

Overall, she says the study is encouraging. “It emphasizes what we already know—that exercise is protective against inflammation and glucose intolerance,” she says. “The new and interesting finding is that perhaps exercising could help offset brief periods of overeating, such as during the holiday season.”

Ludzki agrees. “I would definitely suggest staying active,” she says, “especially if you’re going to be indulging in Thanksgiving treats over the next few weeks.”

 

This article originally appeared on RealSimple.com.

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7 Proven Ways to Keep Off Holiday Pounds

Cookies, cocktails, and multicourse meals make the holidays feel like one long eating spree. This year, just remember these seven guidelines and you’ll come out the other side slim and energized—with no food FOMO.

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Weight Loss Success Story: "I Lost 65 Pounds"

Paige Jackson, 30, 5’7”, from New Orleans
Before: 220 lb., size 18
After: 155 lb., size 4
Total pounds lost: 65 lb.
Total sizes lost: 7

I was a three-sport athlete in high school, so active that I never gave a second thought to the fried chicken and cornbread I was scarfing down. Going off to college in 2004 put an end to my intense training schedule—but not my crazy eating habits. After a semester of soda and chicken cheesesteaks, I was 50 pounds heavier. I blamed my tight waistband on factors like the dorm dryer, shutting out comments from concerned friends who noticed how much weight I’d gained. It wasn’t until I had to grab a size 18 dress for my mother’s summer wedding that I finally realized I needed to make my health a priority.

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Sophomore reset

The following year, I moved off campus, which kept me away from that all-you-can-eat dining hall and empowered me to fill my own fridge with healthy foods. 

I also revved up my walking routine—which I had begun over the summer—and in no time, I was running for a full 30 minutes. On non-jogging days, I alternated between a Turbo Jam exercise DVD and strength-training regimens I found in magazines. At the end of the semester, I was down 30 pounds. 

Insta encouragement

By the time I graduated in 2008, I had become a little too lax with my portion sizes. To get back on track, I toted clean lunches, like salads, to work. I also began exercising with a trainer. These moves helped me ditch another 40 pounds. When my Facebook friends started commenting on my weight loss and asking for advice, I created a “Fit Tip of the Day” series on my page, which in 2012 turned into @spandex_and_sportsbras, a joint Instagram account with a friend. The best part about my 2,500-member fit family: They keep me accountable. And I love being able to help motivate others to reach their health goals.

RELATED: The Same 10 Weight Loss Mistakes All Women Make

My slimdown essentials

Focusing on fitness has been critical to Paige’s success. Here, she picks the three strategies that helped the most.

Keep inspiration everywhere: I always have my phone background set to a motivational quote. Words of wisdom like “If you want it, work for it” offer a little pick-me-up every time I look at the screen. 

Don’t fixate on pounds: Throughout my journey, I have always relied on active goals, like running a 5K or building muscle, to measure my progress. Working toward real-life results is way more rewarding than obsessing over a number on the scale. 

Find delicious swaps: Instead of giving up my favorite comfort foods completely, I make them healthier. For example, for my good-for-you hash browns, I cook one shredded sweet potato in a tablespoon of coconut oil until it’s soft and crispy, then I top it with cinnamon and sea salt. Talk about yummy!

Paige is wearing: Crane & Lion Keyhole Sports Bra ($60, craneandlion.com), Crane & Lion Racerback Tank ($60, craneandlion.com), and Crane & Lion Original Tight ($95, craneandlion.com).

 

As told to Lindsey Murray

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Your Metabolism: A User's Manual

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A Super-Early Dinner Can Burn More Fat, Study Finds

Eating all your meals within a six-hour window sounds like some sort of fad diet (and a recipe for midnight fridge raids). But new research study suggests that having your dinner before 2 p.m.(!)—or skipping it entirely—actually reduces hunger cravings and boosts fat burn. Before you sign on for the super early–bird special, however, here’s what you should know.

The study's preliminary results (not yet published in an academic journal) were presented this week at the Obesity Society’s annual meeting. It’s the first human trial of “early time-restricted feeding,” a strategy in which people eat their last meal of the day by mid-afternoon and don’t eat again until breakfast.

This type of eating plan has shown promise in animal studies; mice who are fed time-restricted diets tend to lose more body fat and have lower risk of chronic diseases than those whose meals are more spaced out. Some researchers believe that similar schedules could be beneficial for people, as well, since human metabolism follows an internal clock and many aspects of it function best in the morning.

To test this strategy, researchers at Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center followed 11 overweight men and women, ages 20 to 45, over two four-day periods. During one period, they ate all of their meals between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.; during the other, they followed an average American eating schedule with meals between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Both diets included the same daily calorie amounts and were similar except for timing. On the last day of each diet, the researchers performed 24 hours of metabolic testing on the participants, and asked about their hunger levels.

RELATED: 8 Metabolism Secrets That Help You Blast Calories

The time-restricted diet did not affect how many calories the participants burned. But it did reduce their daily hunger swings, and increased the amount of fat they burned during several hours at night. It also improved metabolic flexibility, the body’s ability to switch between burning carbohydrates and fat.

So could restricting meals to a smaller time window help with weight loss, or improve other aspects of health? The researchers don’t know—but they say it’s a possibility. 

“We found that eating between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. followed by an 18-hour daily fast kept appetite levels more even throughout the day, in comparison to eating between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.,” said lead author Courtney Peterson, PhD, assistant professor of nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama Birmingham, in a press release. "It may therefore positively impact body composition both by increasing fat oxidation and by reducing energy intake," the study concludes.

Dale Schoeller, PhD, professor emeritus in the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Nutritional Sciences, says the findings do suggest—for the first time in people—that meal timing does have an impact on metabolism.

“With additional research on early-time restricted feeding on humans, we can create a more complete picture of whether this innovative method can best help prevent and treat obesity,” said Schoeller, who is a spokesperson for the Obesity Society and was not involved in the study.

RELATED: Intermittent Fasting Is All the Rage—But Is It Healthy?

But there are also reasons to take these findings with a grain of salt, says Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD, author of Doctor’s Detox Diet.

The metabolic effects of meal timing is an “interesting question,” says Dr. Gerbstadt, but she points out that the study’s test group was very small and only included young and (besides being overweight) healthy adults.

“It is unlikely that these results can be generalized to all Americans,” she told Health after reviewing the study’s abstract—especially those who are older, who have health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol, and those with poor exercise habits.

Potential risks for these and other groups—like how medications might be affected by such a schedule change—have not been studied, she says.

“The control of hunger has financial and health benefits, but I question the safety of daily fasting in all American populations,” she says, referring to the long gap between dinner and breakfast. “Certainly children and adults over 50 should be warned not to try this.”

Plus, deciding to eat such an early dinner every day—or no dinner at all—would require a major change for most people, behaviorally and socially. (Doing it just once in a while wouldn’t likely be recommended, as irregular meal schedules have been tied to higher levels of obesity and health complications.)  

“This eating pattern does not suit the lifestyles of most,” Dr. Gerbstadt says, “and may or may not be of any benefit.”  

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15 Ways to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

Is it possible to celebrate the season without packing on pounds? You bet! We found 10 simple strategies for preventing holiday weight gain (plus a painless way to actually knock off weight).

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When You Skip Sleep, You Eat 300+ More Calories the Next Day

Have you ever noticed that the less you sleep, the more hungry you feel the next day? Research suggests that this is indeed true. But you might not realize how many extra calories you’re taking in (spoiler: it's more than you'd think).

In a new study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers set out to put a number on those surplus calories consumed by the tired and weary. In recent years, adequate sleep has emerged as a third pillar, along with exercise and healthy eating, as a way to help control weight. Previous studies have linked a lack of sleep with obesity and even type 2 diabetes; but this is one of the first times researchers have calculated the caloric effect of insufficient Z’s.

To do so, they pooled results from 11 previous studies that looked at “partial sleep deprivation” and calorie consumption. Partial sleep deprivation “means that people were sleep deprived for part of the night but not for a full night,” author Gerda Pot, PhD, explained in an email. “Partial sleep deprivation could affect sleep quantity and/or quality.”

In all, the studies included 172 people ages 18 to 50, both male and female, who were either normal weight, overweight, or obese. All of the studies included control groups of people who did get enough sleep—7 to 12 hours in bed at night. People in the sleep deprived groups logged between 3½ to 5½ hours in bed.

RELATED: 30 Sleep Hacks for Your Most Restful Night Ever

The researchers found that the sleep deprived consumed an average of 385 calories extra per day, about the equivalent of four and a half slices of bread, says Pot, who is a visiting lecturer in the Diabetes & Nutritional Sciences Division at King's College London, and also an associate professor at Vrije University Amsterdam. (To put 385 calories into context, it’s close to a fifth of the energy needs of a moderately active 30-year-old woman.)

“Moreover, people proportionally consumed more fat and less protein,” Pot added. Carbohydrate consumption stayed roughly the same.

Other researchers have speculated that a lack of sleep might affect hormones related to hunger, such as leptin and ghrelin. But Pot and her co-authors believe the explanation may be “hedonic,” meaning the tired overeat because they’re seeking pleasure.

Sharon Zarabi, RD, director of the bariatric program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, shares the same suspicion. The urge to binge may be “because they are more jittery and can't satisfy their anxiety with eating,” Zarabi (who was not involved with the study) wrote in an email to Health.

RELATED: How to Stop Overeating Once and For All

Sadly, the researchers also found that staying up later doesn’t actually burn extra calories, suggesting that not getting enough sleep over the long term could be a recipe for weight gain. But none of the studies included in this review lasted more than two weeks, making it impossible to know if those extra calories add extra pounds as well.

The authors are now doing a study with people who regularly don’t get enough sleep to see if that is the case. “We need to do more research into sleep as a possible remediable risk factor for obesity and possibly other cardio-metabolic diseases like diabetes, especially in today’s society in which trends are showing that people sleep less,” Pot said.

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