Research from the University of Jerusalem published in FASEB shows that a scheduled high fat diet leads to weight loss because of increased fat burning. Snacking upsets this process. A previous study published in Cell Metabolism in early 2012 showed that feeding rats the same number of calories over 24 hours rather than over 8 hours also led to weight gain.
It appears that body metabolism is regulated by circadian rhythms of hormones such as cortisol, thyroid hormone, insulin, and leptin. Fasting between meals is important in maintaining fat burning rather than fat storage. Being on a scheduled high fat diet led to more weight loss than a scheduled low fat diet, but the reasons why are unknown.
