Restricting eating to early part of the day beneficial for metabolic health: study

Beijing, China | Xinhua | A study by Chinese researchers has found that restricting eating to the early part of the day has more significant benefits for metabolic health among healthy people.

Time-restricted eating or time-restricted feeding (TRF) is a dietary approach that consolidates the daily calorie intake to 6- to 10-hour periods during the active phase of the day, without necessarily altering diet quality and quantity.

The researchers from Peking Union Medical College Hospital conducted a five-week trial among 90 healthy volunteers to compare the effect of two types of TRF. The volunteers were randomly grouped to early TRF (food intake restricted to 6:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.), mid-day TRF (food intake restricted to 11 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.), and the control group.

The two TRF approaches have been shown to have metabolic benefits, but yet to be thoroughly compared.

According to the study published in Nature Communications, the early TRF group was more effective than the mid-day TRF group at improving insulin sensitivity which refers to how sensitive the body’s cells are in response to insulin. High insulin sensitivity allows the body cells to use blood glucose more effectively, reducing blood sugar. No serious adverse events were reported during the study.

Compared with the mid-day TRF group, early TRF also improved fasting glucose, the basal blood sugar level after not eating or drinking fluids other than water for at least eight hours. They also had reduced total body mass, lessened inflammation, and increased gut microbial diversity.

The researchers said that the calorie intake of the two TRF groups was lower than the control group, indicating that shortening the daily eating time can limit the daily energy intake.

Meanwhile, there was no significant difference in calorie intake between the two TRF groups, indicating that the amount of calorie intake did not cause the improvement of health indicators.

In further studies, the researchers found that the two TRF approaches affected the circadian rhythm of an insulin-sensitizing hormone that decreases circulating glucose and the expression of circadian genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

It suggests the effects of different TRF on metabolic health may be related to circadian rhythms, the researchers said.

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Xinhua