Research reveals that time-restricted meals can improve weight and metabolism

New research highlights the potential of time-restricted meal and calorie timing as an effective and sustainable alternative for weight management and improving blood sugar levels.

study: Meal timing and anthropometric and metabolic results. Image credit: Pormezz / Shutterstock.com

In a recent study published in JAMA network openresearchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to investigate the effects of meal timing strategies on weight management and metabolic outcomes.

Effectiveness of modern approaches to weight loss

The global prevalence of obesity and overweight is rapidly increasing. This is partly due to modifiable lifestyle risk factors, such as unhealthy eating patterns and lack of exercise. All of these risk factors are associated with an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and early death.

Current estimates suggest that most people consume food for more than 14 hours each day and snack late into the night, further increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes and worsening glycemic control. Intermittent fasting, which involves consuming food for 6 to 10 hours during active periods of the day, has emerged as a popular weight loss strategy.

Dietary modification, including calorie restriction, is considered a major strategy for weight management. Meal timing strategies such as time-restricted eating (TRE), a type of intermittent fasting, reducing the number of meals and changing the distribution of calories throughout the day, hold promise for people who have difficulty monitoring their daily calorie intake. is emerging as a viable alternative. Weight loss.

In the current systematic review and meta-analysis, scientists examined published RCTs to assess the long-term effects of meal timing strategies on anthropometric and metabolic outcomes in adults with and without metabolic disease. Analyzing.

research design

The scientists searched various electronic databases to identify RCTs that investigated daily meal timing patterns over at least 12 weeks and reported anthropometric outcomes such as weight and body mass index (BMI).

The final analysis included 29 RCTs involving 2,485 participants. Risk of bias analysis showed that approximately 76% of the included trials provided low-quality data.

Meal timing strategies evaluated in the RCTs reviewed included time-restricted eating, meal frequency, and daily calorie allocation.

time-restricted meals

A meta-analysis of RCTs that investigated the effects of time-restricted eating on weight management revealed that this strategy can significantly reduce both body weight and BMI. However, time-restricted eating was not found to affect lean body mass or waist circumference.

Participants with a higher BMI at baseline lost more weight than those with a lower BMI. Greater weight loss was observed when animals consumed food for 8 hours or less each day compared to when daily feeding time exceeded 8 hours.

Regarding metabolic outcomes, time-restricted eating was associated with decreased fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, and energy intake.

meal frequency

Decrease in meal frequency was associated with modest decreases in body weight and BMI. However, meal frequency does not seem to affect lean body mass or waist circumference measurements. Similarly, meal frequency was not found to affect fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, LDL levels, or energy intake.

calorie distribution

Consuming most calories early in the day leads to greater weight loss, lower BMI, and lower waist circumference measurements compared to consuming calories later in the day. Similar to meal frequency, no clear association between calorie distribution and metabolic outcomes was observed.

Research limitations

Subgroup analyzes in the current study confirmed that the weight loss effects of the meal timing strategy were durable and independent of the training level of the clinician administering the intervention. However, most of the reviewed clinical trials enrolled participants from clinical settings and required clinicians to receive nutrition training, which may limit the generalizability of the results. Similarly, all clinical trials on calorie distribution involved only female participants.

Another limitation of the current study is the low quality of evidence due to the risk of bias and inconsistency. Therefore, additional clinical trials with larger sample sizes, similar intervention designs, and longer follow-up periods are needed to provide more definitive results on the health benefits associated with time-restricted eating. Must be implemented.

conclusion

Implementing a meal timing strategy for 12 weeks or more can result in moderate reductions in weight, BMI, and waist circumference measurements. Time-restricted eating was also found to reduce HbA1c and fasting blood glucose levels, indicating that this strategy is potentially useful in managing diabetes.

The rigid nature of calorie counting in traditional weight loss interventions is one of the main reasons contributing to its poor adherence, in addition to its association with higher disinhibition, energy intake, and BMI. Comparatively, time-restricted eating may offer health care clinicians a simpler and more flexible approach to supporting behavior change in overweight or obese adults.