COPENHAGEN (Dispatches) -- A study in mice has revealed that physical activity at the right time of the day seems able to increase fat metabolism.
A recent study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark indicates that mice that did exercise in an early active phase, which corresponds to morning exercise in humans, increased their metabolism more than mice that did exercise at a time when they usually rest.
The scientists at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Copenhagen studied the adipose tissue of mice after a session of high-intensity exercise performed at two points of the daily cycle, an early active phase and early rest phase (corresponding to a late morning and late evening session, respectively, in humans). They studied various markers for fat metabolism and analysed which genes were active in adipose tissue after exercise.
The results show that late morning exercise could be more effective than late evening exercise in terms of boosting the metabolism and the burning of fat, and therefore, they could prove of value to people who are overweight.