A newly published study has found that a mere 12 weeks of intermittent fasting may help sustain weight loss as much as a year later!
Intermittent fasting is the practice of eating during specific time frames while reducing calorie intake or abstaining from food at certain times, and research on its health benefits is ongoing. The results of this particular study showed that just 12 weeks of time-restricted eating helped maintain long-term weight loss.
The researchers wanted to see how time-restricted eating impacted weight loss in the long term. They did a secondary analysis of a randomized trial, focusing on a subsample of 99 participants.
These participants were between the ages of 30 and 60 and either were “overweight” or obese per their BMI. For 12 weeks, participants engaged in 1 of 4 eating patterns:
- Early time-restricted eating, where participants ate within an 8-hour window that started before 10 a.m.
- Late time-restricted eating, where participants ate within an 8-hour window that started after 1 p.m.
- Self-selected time-restricted eating, where participants chose when they wanted their 8-hour eating window to be, before the intervention started
- Usual eating window, where participants ate at their typical times
In addition, all participants received education about following a Mediterranean dietary pattern and engaging in physical activity. Participants reported when they first and last ate using a mobile app.
Key Takeaways From This Study:
The researchers discovered that the results at the one-year mark showed a benefit to time-restricted eating. For the early and late time-restricted eating groups, there was a greater maintained loss of body weight compared to the control group that didn’t do time-restricted eating.
In addition:
- These weight-loss benefits were observed regardless of when this 8-hour eating window occurred.
- All three time-restricted groups also maintained a lower neck circumference. The late time-restricted eating group maintained larger decreases in waist and hip circumference but also saw a decrease in fat-free mass.
- Researchers also found that fat mass stayed lower in the early time-restricted eating group and that the group maintained “a tendency toward fat-free mass reduction.”
- Pooling all 3 time-restricted eating groups showed better results as well. This group showed larger decreases in body weight, fat mass, and neck and waist circumference, and also larger decreases in fat-free mass than the usual care group.
You can read the complete study which was published in Clinical Nutrition by clicking on this link.