by People with risk factors that increase the likelihood of a heart attack, stroke, or type 2 diabetes may be able to reduce their risk with a form of intermittent fasting called time-restricted eating.
The results suggest that time-restricted eating is a feasible and effective way to improve multiple aspects of cardiometabolic health, particularly blood sugar and cholesterol control, even if people are already on medication, says the lead author, Emily Manoogian, PhD, postdoctoral fellow. and a researcher at the Salk Institute at the UC San Diego School of Medicine.
“Although this study was conducted in adults with metabolic syndrome, based on this and other findings, it can also help improve pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or elevated weight, and likely many other health issues,” says Dr. Manoogian.
Study Subjects Had an 8- to 10-Hour Eating Window
For the study, the researchers randomly assigned a total of 108 adults with metabolic syndrome to either the time-restricted eating group or a control group. The group was 51 percent women with an average age of 59 years. The average weight was 196 pounds, and the average BMI was about 31.
Unlike most trials of time-restricted eating, this one included people taking medications for metabolic syndrome, such as cholesterol-lowering or blood pressure-lowering drugs.
Although both groups received nutritional counseling on the Mediterranean diet, the intervention did not limit how much or how much people ate, and physical activity was not tracked. All participants logged their meals using a mobile app.
Study participants adapted their time-restricted eating windows to their individual eating habits, sleep/wake times, and personal commitment. The eating schedule resulted in all participants reducing their eating window by about 4 hours to a consistent 8 to 10 hours per day, starting at least an hour after waking up and ending at at least an hour before they went to bed.
The personalized approach made the intervention easier for participants to complete, compared to other intermittent fasting studies, which typically assign the same strict time window to all participants, Manoogian says.
After three months, people in the time-restricted eating group showed improvements in key markers of cardiometabolic health, including blood sugar and LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol that can clog arteries), as well as lower levels of hemoglobin A1C, distance marker. term blood sugar control.
Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) levels decreased in the time-restricted eating group, from 5.87 to 5.75 percent, compared to a change from 5.86 to 5.84 percent in the standard counseling group.
People Who Followed Time-Restricted Eating Lost More Weight
Those who followed time-limited eating also lost an average of about 6.5 pounds (about 3 percent of their body weight) compared to about 3.5 pounds in the control group. According to the food diaries that participants kept during the 12 weeks, those who shrank their eating window ate about 350 calories less per day.
Time-restricted eaters also reduced their abdominal fat, and overall, did not significantly lose lean muscle mass.
“It was exciting to see that a single lifestyle intervention could improve multiple components of metabolic syndrome. Usually, treatments only affect one aspect of it,” says Manoogian.
Eating Under Time Constraints Could Be A ‘Stealth’ Way To Improve Your Eating Habits
These results suggest that you can get additional (albeit modest) metabolic improvements by time-restricted eating without consciously cutting calories or losing significant weight, says Adam Collins, PhD, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Surrey in England. , who was not involved in the study.
“The selling point of time-restricted eating is that you’re not instructing people to restrict overall intake or food choice, you’re limiting the eating window,” says the Dr. Collins.
This study shows that this window can be personalized to fit a person’s normal eating and sleeping pattern, which can help the body metabolize meals and how they use and store carbs and fat, he says.
People in time-restricted eating trials usually change their eating habits (even beyond the time window) and eat a little less, perhaps by skipping a meal, avoiding snacks, or being more alert about their eating, says Collins.
People often eat less, or they eat both by “stealth,” he says.
May Under Time Limit ‘Tap into the Body’s Natural Wisdom’
Researchers believe that aligning food intake with the body’s natural circadian rhythm could improve the way the body metabolizes calories.
“By time-restricted eating, we are recapturing the body’s natural wisdom and taking advantage of its daily rhythms to restore metabolism and improve health,” said Dr. Panda.
It may be easier to stick to changing what you eat instead of what you eat
Although the standard recommendation to “eat less and move more” sounds simple enough, it is difficult to sustain, according to the authors.
The same is true of many popular diets, says Marilyn Tan, MD, an associate professor of medicine and endocrinologist at Stanford Health Care in California, who was not involved in the study.
“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 struggle to sustain them in the long term . “The key to success with a diet change is that one can maintain it indefinitely,” says Dr. Tan.
Eaters often find it easier to follow time restrictions rather than very specific macronutrient profiles, she says.
“This study showed benefits at three months, and in a longer-term study, the benefits could be even more significant,” says Tan.
“Patients understand that they don’t need to change what they eat, just when they eat,” says Manoogian.
Some people should check with their doctor before trying to eat on a time restriction
As long as healthcare professionals are aware of the diet plan, the risks of intermittent fasting itself are minimal, says Tan.
“If patients are on insulin or medications that may cause low glucose, it is important that they discuss time-restricted eating with their health care providers,” she says.
