Limiting food intake to an eight-hour window each day may help overweight or obese individuals maintain weight loss results over the course of a year. Notably, this lasting effect was observed for both early and late eating windows. This was reported on July 19 in the journal Science Daily.
The study involved 99 overweight or obese adults, nearly half of whom were women. During the first 12 weeks, all participants received guidance on following a Mediterranean diet. They were then divided into four groups. The control group continued to eat over a period of 12 or more hours per day. The remaining participants restricted this period to eight hours.
In the first experimental group, the eating window began before 10:00 AM; in the second, it started after 1:00 PM. Participants in the third group were free to choose any convenient eight-hour window for eating. Researchers assessed body weight, as well as fat and lean tissue mass, before and after the program, and then repeated these measurements one year later.
Participants who adhered to an early or late eating schedule maintained more significant weight loss after 12 months compared to the control group. The early eating window was also linked to better preservation of reductions in fat mass.
Previously, specialists established that during the main program, those in the eight-hour eating window lost an average of 3–4 kilograms more than volunteers who only received dietary recommendations. The timing of the first meal did not significantly affect the outcome.
Lead author Alba Camacho-Cardenosa noted that the short-term weight loss benefits of intermittent fasting were already known, but it remained unclear whether the effect persisted after the program ended.
“By assessing the participants’ condition 12 months after the intervention concluded, we demonstrated that changes in body weight are maintained,” she explained.
About one-third of the volunteers chose to continue intermittent fasting on their own during the follow-up period. According to the researchers, this suggests that such a regimen can be relatively easily integrated into daily life. However, the authors do not claim that intermittent fasting is suitable for everyone. The results were obtained from overweight or obese individuals, so extending these findings to other groups without further research is premature.
In June, Elena Spletenko, director of the Center of Competence for Food Safety at Roskachestvo, stated that the risk of food poisoning rises significantly in the summer. According to the expert, high temperatures create ideal conditions for bacterial growth, making certain products especially hazardous.
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