Exercising in the morning burns more fat, study suggests

EXERCISE in the morning may burn more fat than at other times in the day, new research suggests.

Biological processes work differently depending on the time of day, due to each cell’s circadian rhythm – the natural cycle of changes in our bodies over each 24-hour period.

A new study by researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and the University of Copenhagen has found that mice have a higher fat metabolism when exercising at an early active phase in their daily cycle than an early rest phase.

This suggests that humans may also see more fat loss when working out late in the morning, as opposed to late in the evening, according to the scientists.

“Our results suggest that late morning exercise could be more effective than late evening exercise in terms of boosting the metabolism and the burning of fat, and if this is the case, they could prove of value to people who are overweight,” said Professor Juleen Zierath, of the Karolinska Institute.

They looked at which genes were active in adipose tissue, and discovered those involved with boosting the metabolism were more abundant in the morning slot – regardless of how much food the mice ate.

Mice are a long-established model for studying human physiology and metabolism.

However, the researchers say that their comparison, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, is limited by the fact mice are nocturnal.