ArticlePLoS biology2020
Eating breakfast and avoiding late-evening snacking sustains lipid oxidation.
Article in PLoS biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 81 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficiency of time-restricted eating and energy restriction on anthropometrics and body composition in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Pooled it
- Snack quality and snack timing are associated with cardiometabolic blood markers: the ZOE PREDICT study.European journal of nutrition · 2024Trial
- Impact of early time-restricted eating on diet quality, meal frequency, appetite, and eating behaviors: A randomized trial.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2023Trial
- Late isocaloric eating increases hunger, decreases energy expenditure, and modifies metabolic pathways in adults with overweight and obesity.Cell metabolism · 2022Trial
- An Earlier First Meal Timing Associates with Weight Loss Effectiveness in A 12-Week Weight Loss Support Program.Nutrients · 2022Trial
- Decoding of Nocturnal Fasting and Health: Possible Role of Zeitgebers and Melatonin.Annals of neurosciences · 2026Review
- Association of macronutrient quality at dinner versus breakfast with body composition in adults living in Tehran: results from a cross-sectional study.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- The interplay of night eating syndrome with resting metabolic rate, anthropometric measures, and sleep quality in normal-weight female university students: a case-control study.Journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
- Evaluating the Accuracy of Declared Eating Schedules by Continuous Glucose Monitoring.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Association between circadian rhythm-disturbing factors and metabolic syndrome in Korean adults: Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016-2020).Korean journal of family medicine · 2025Article
- Associations of daily eating frequency and nighttime fasting duration with biological aging in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2010 and 2015-2018.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Article
- Relationship between circadian eating behavior (daily eating frequency and nighttime fasting duration) and cardiovascular mortality.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Article
- Circadian dysfunction and cardio-metabolic disorders in humans.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Review
- Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting.Microbial physiology · 2024Review
- The efficacy of a home-use metabolic device (Lumen) in response to a short-term low and high carbohydrate diet in healthy volunteers.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2023Article
- Meal timing variability of rotating shift workers throughout a complete shift cycle and its effect on daily energy and macronutrient intake: a field study.European journal of nutrition · 2023Article
- Impact of Nighttime Food Consumption and Feasibility of Fasting during Night Work: A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Influence of Fasting until Noon (Extended Postabsorptive State) on Clock Gene mRNA Expression and Regulation of Body Weight and Glucose Metabolism.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Review
- Graphene-Enhanced Polydimethylsiloxane Patch for Wearable Body Temperature Remote Monitoring Application.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Circadian (daily) regulation of metabolic pathways implies that food may be metabolized differentially over the daily cycle. To test that hypothesis, we monitored the metabolism of older subjects in a whole-room respiratory chamber over two separate 56-h sessions in a random crossover design. In one session, one of the 3 daily meals was presented as breakfast, whereas in the other session, a nutritionally equivalent meal was presented as a late-evening snack. The duration of the overnight fast was the same for both sessions. Whereas the two sessions did not differ in overall energy expenditure, the respiratory exchange ratio (RER) was different during sleep between the two sessions. Unexpectedly, this difference in RER due to daily meal timing was not due to daily differences in physical activity, sleep disruption, or core body temperature (CBT). Rather, we found that the daily timing of nutrient availability coupled with daily/circadian control of metabolism drives a switch in substrate preference such that the late-evening Snack Session resulted in significantly lower lipid oxidation (LO) compared to the Breakfast Session. Therefore, the timing of meals during the day/night cycle affects how ingested food is oxidized or stored in humans, with important implications for optimal eating habits.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.