Postprandial weight gain is
especially troublesome during the holidays. In the immediate short
term any food and drink that you put into your body will make you
exactly that much heavier. Eat a pound of chocolate and you add one
pound to your mass, until your body starts to excrete the food or
use it for energy.
That gain begins to decrease almost as soon as it begins. The time
it takes for food to pass through the digestive tract varies widely.
Overall, the journey of a meal takes between 20 and 56 hours. Once
it is metabolized and excreted, only excess calories converted to fat
remain. If you ate a very salty meal, you tend to retain water, and
a greater proportion of the weight temporarily remains. How much
remains long term depends on the energy content of the food consumed
as excess calories are converted into fat to be used for energy in
the future.
In a recent study, a team of Israeli scientists tested different
diets on almost 200 obese adults. One group consumed a greater
proportion of their calories at breakfast and lost significantly
more weight, on average, than the others in the study.
The bottom line is, the net weight gain associated with any one meal
will be very small. However, a prolonged series of excess eating can
accumulate to have a significant, long-term effect. A few
overindulgent meals for the holidays are not a problem, the problem
is the three overindulgent meals a day over a long period of time.
Just as it takes time to reduce weight, it takes time to gain
lasting weight, so enjoy the Holidays.