Nutrition & Diabetes: Eight-Hour Eating Window Linked to Greater Weight Loss With Intermittent Fasting

An eight-hour eating window during intermittent fasting was associated with greater weight loss than a 12-hour window, although the difference between eight- and 10-hour regimens was not statistically significant. This was the conclusion of researchers whose study was published in the journal Nutrition & Diabetes.

The researchers combined data from five clinical trials involving 124 people. The participants had an average age of 47, and 67% were women. All participants typically ate over a period of at least 14 hours per day and had at least one feature of metabolic syndrome.

The researchers studied time-restricted eating (TRE), a form of intermittent fasting in which a person eats only within a specific daily time window. The study compared eating windows of eight, 10, and 12 hours. Participants were not instructed to restrict their calorie intake or eliminate specific foods.

On average, people assigned to intermittent fasting shortened their daily eating window by approximately four hours and lost 2.18 kg over the course of the study. Participants in the control groups experienced no substantial reduction in their eating duration or weight.

The greatest weight loss was observed among participants with an eight-hour eating window. They lost more weight than participants following a 12-hour regimen and those in the control groups. However, the difference between the eight- and 10-hour windows was not statistically significant.

An analysis of participants’ actual eating times also showed an association between a shorter eating window and greater weight loss.

Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter