People with risk factors that increase the likelihood of heart attack, stroke, or type 2 diabetes can reduce their risk with a form of intermittent fasting, known as time-restricted fasting.
The findings suggest that time-restricted eating is a feasible and effective way to improve many aspects of cardiometabolic health, especially blood sugar control and cholesterol, even if people are already taking medications, says postdoctoral researcher Emily Manoogian, lead author of the study. and a researcher at the Salk Institute at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
Dr. “Although this study was conducted in adults with metabolic syndrome, based on these and other findings, it may also help improve health problems such as prediabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high weight, and possibly many more,” says Manoogian.
Study Subjects Had an 8- to 10-Hour Meal Window
For the study, researchers randomly assigned a total of 108 adults with metabolic syndrome to either a time-restricted eating group or a control group. 51 percent of the group were women and the average age was 59. The average weight was 196 pounds and the average BMI was approximately 31.
Unlike most trials of time-restricted feeding, this trial involved people taking medications for metabolic syndrome, such as cholesterol-lowering or blood pressure-lowering drugs.
Although both groups were given nutritional counseling on the Mediterranean diet, the intervention did not limit what people ate or how much they ate, and physical activity was not monitored. All participants recorded their meals using a mobile application.
Study participants customized their time-restricted eating windows based on their individual eating habits, sleep/wake times, and personal commitments. The resulting eating schedule enabled each participant to consistently reduce the eating window by approximately 4 hours to 8 to 10 hours per day; It started at least one hour after waking up and ended at least three hours before falling asleep.
Manoogian says the personalized approach made it easier for participants to complete the intervention, compared to other intermittent fasting studies that often assign all participants the same strict time window.
After three months, people in the time-restricted eating group showed improvements in key markers of cardiometabolic health, including blood sugar and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol that can clog arteries), as well as improvements in hemoglobin A1C levels, a marker of long-term fasting. period blood sugar control.
The time-restricted eating group experienced a decrease in hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) levels from 5.87 percent to 5.75 percent, while in the standard counseling group, the rate dropped from 5.86 to 5.84 percent.
People Following Time-Restricted Nutrition Lost More Weight
Those who followed the time-restricted diet lost an average of 6.5 pounds (about 3 percent of their body weight), compared to about 3.5 pounds in the control group. According to food diaries the participants kept for 12 weeks, those who narrowed their eating window ate about 350 fewer calories per day.
The time-restricted eaters also reduced their belly fat and experienced no significant loss of lean muscle mass overall.
“It was exciting to see that a lifestyle intervention could improve many components of metabolic syndrome. Often treatments only affect one aspect of the condition,” says Manoogian.
There May Be a ‘Secret’ Way to Improve Your Time-Restricted Eating Habits
These findings suggest that you can achieve additional (albeit modest) metabolic improvements through time-restricted eating without consciously reducing calories or losing significant amounts of weight, says Adam Collins, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Surrey in England. did not participate in the study.
Dr. “The advantage of time-restricted eating is that you just limit the eating window rather than instructing people to restrict overall intake or food selection,” says Collins.
This study shows that this window can be personalized to fit a person’s typical eating and sleeping patterns; This, he says, can help the body metabolize meals and how it uses and stores carbohydrates and fats.
Collins says that typically people in time-restricted eating trials change their eating habits (even beyond the time window), and people start eating slightly less, possibly by skipping a meal, avoiding snacks, or paying more attention to their eating.
He adds that it often “secretly” gets people to eat less, healthier, or both.
Time-Limited May ‘Take advantage of the Body’s Natural Wisdom’
Researchers believe that adjusting food intake to the body’s natural circadian rhythm may improve the way the body metabolizes calories.
Dr. “In time-restricted eating, we re-engage the body’s natural wisdom and leverage its circadian rhythms to revitalize metabolism and improve health,” Panda said.
It May Be Easier to Change When You Eat Instead of What You Eat
While the standard recommendation to “eat less and move more” seems simple enough, it can be difficult to maintain, according to the authors.
The same is true of many popular diets, says Marilyn Tan, an endocrinologist and associate professor of medicine at Stanford Health Care in California, who was not involved in the research.
“Extremely low-carb diets, the keto diet, and other restrictive diets can lead to significant weight loss and metabolic improvements in the short term, but many patients find them difficult to maintain long term. The key to success is finding a dietary change that one can maintain indefinitely,” says Dr. Tan.
He says people often find it easier to follow time-restricted eating rather than very specific macronutrient profiles.
“This study showed benefits at three months, and in a longer-term study the benefits may be even more remarkable,” says Tan.
“Patients appreciate that they don’t have to change What they just eat When they eat,” says Manoogian.
Some People Should Consult Their Doctors Before Trying Time-Restricted Dieting
Tan says intermittent fasting on its own carries little risk, as long as healthcare professionals are aware of the diet plan.
“If patients are on insulin or medications that can cause low glucose, it is important to discuss time-restricted feeding with their healthcare provider,” he says.