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"This article doesn't really explain _why_ eating earlier is supposedly better."

It does: "Because of the way our internal clocks operate, our bodies are primed to digest and metabolize food early in the day. As the day progresses, our metabolisms become less efficient."

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Which should mean the opposite, that eating later in the day is better for weightloss.

why? that's not how metabolism works

They’re confused by the word efficiency. They’re assuming that if metabolism is inefficient then it must take more energy to process food. Thus, more calories burned, thus weightloss.

Digest and metabolize. This would mean that early in the day, you digest food and put it to work. Your body temperature is higher, you fidget more, your body repairs some of the damage you did when you worked out last night.

Later in the day, the food you digest sits around. Your body temperature is lower, you fidget less, your body performs less maintenance and repair. But the body isn't wasteful; it's still built to survive periodic famine. So, those extra calories that are just sitting around get stored away for later.

It also mentions ghrelin and leptin

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