Working on a flat stomach? Next time you catch yourself skipping a meal – think twice unless you like gaining weight around your midsection or you’re working on your muffin top.

Scientists at The Ohio State University have found that skipping meals could be linked to abdominal weight gain.

Skipping meals to save on calories results in larger fluctuations in insulin and glucose; and researchers believe that could set you up for more fat gain than fat loss.

The new study in animals found mice that were put on a restricted diet had more fat around their middles – the equivalent to human belly fat – when compared to mice that were free to eat all day long.

Researchers noted that excess of abdominal fat is associated with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

 

Journal Reference:

Kara L. Kliewer, Jia-Yu Ke, Hui-Young Lee, Michael B. Stout, Rachel M. Cole, Varman T. Samuel, Gerald I. Shulman, Martha A. Belury. Short-term food restriction followed by controlled refeeding promotes gorging behavior, enhances fat deposition, and diminishes insulin sensitivity in mice. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 2015; DOI: 1016/j.jnutbio.2015.01.010