London, UK: A new findings from the largest UK community research project showed that consuming meals within a 10-hour time frame improves mood, energy, and hunger.
Results from the trial are presented by researchers from King’s College London at the European Nutrition Conference. Intermittent fasting (IF), or restricting your food consumption to a set time frame, is a popular weight loss approach.
Adopting a ten-hour window means limiting your daily eating schedule to ten hours and fasting for the remaining 14 hours. For example, if your first meal is at 9 am, you should finish eating at 7 pm.
While some IF advocates promoting restrictive eating windows as low as six hours, findings indicate that even eating within a less restrictive window of ten hours still has positive health benefits, such as changes in mood, energy, and hunger.
Dr. Sarah Berry from King’s College London and chief scientist at healthcare science company, ZOE, said that, “This is the largest study outside of a tightly controlled clinic to show that intermittent fasting can improve your health in a real-world setting. What’s really exciting is that the findings show that you don’t have to be very restrictive to see positive results.”
“A ten-hour eating window, which was manageable for most people, improved mood, energy levels and hunger. We found for the first time that those who practiced time-restricted eating, but were not consistent day to day, did not have the same positive health effects as those who were dedicated every day,” Dr. Berry added.
37,545 users of the ZOE Health app finished the three-week core intervention period. In the initial week, the participants were instructed to maintain their regular eating habits, followed by adopting a ten-hour eating window for the next two weeks.
More than 36,231 participants opted for additional weeks and 27,371 users were classified as highly engaged. Among the highly engaged participants, 78 percent were female, with an average age of 60 and a BMI of 25.6. Participants with a longer eating window before the intervention saw an even greater benefit to their health.
Ms. Kate Bermingham PhD, from King’s College London and ZOE, commented that, “This study adds to the growing body of evidence showing the importance of how you eat. The health impact of food is not just what you eat but the time at which you choose to consume your meals, and eating window is an important dietary behaviour that can be beneficial for health.”
Ms. Bermingham stated that, “Findings show that we don’t need to be eating all the time. Many people will feel satiated and even lose weight if they restrict their food to a ten-hour window.”
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