An international team of researchers conducted a meta-analysis of five clinical trials to determine which duration of time-restricted eating (TRE) yields the best results for weight loss. The work was published in the scientific journal Nutrition & Diabetes, and its findings were reported by News-Medical, according to infohub.kz.
The pooled analysis included data from 124 adult volunteers with an average age of 47. All participants were residents of the United States and European countries and had at least one sign of metabolic syndrome, and their usual eating window was about 14 hours per day. The subjects were divided into groups with 8-, 10-, and 12-hour eating windows, with no restriction on calorie intake.
The experiments lasted from three to six months. At the end, participants who practiced intermittent fasting reduced their eating time by an average of four hours and lost 2.18 kilograms of body weight. The 8-hour eating window proved most effective: volunteers in this group lost more weight compared to the control group and those on the 12-hour regimen.
The results of the 10-hour window showed no statistically significant difference from the 8-hour interval. However, the 10-hour group experienced a more noticeable reduction in systolic blood pressure compared to participants on the 12-hour regimen.
The scientists also noted that reducing eating time did not significantly affect fasting glucose levels or lipid profile indicators. The authors emphasize the need for longer and larger-scale studies to draw definitive conclusions.