Looking to fast-track your weight loss goals?
New research finds that intermittent fasting, eating fewer meals throughout the day and focusing calorie intake earlier in the day for at least 12 weeks can help you lose more weight than following standard care and receiving nutritional advice.
Researchers from Bond University in Australia analyzed 29 clinical trials with a total of 2,485 participants to see if it’s better to change when you eat instead of what you eat.
Intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating — limiting eating to a certain window of the day — has produced mixed results in past studies.
Some research has linked this method to weight loss, a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, reduced inflammation and improved immune function.
But a major study this year found that those who restrict their eating to less than eight hours a day are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than people who eat in a 12- to 16-hour window.
The new review, published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open, reported that sticking to an eating window of eight hours a day or less yielded the greatest weight loss.
Bond researchers also determined that intermittent fasting participants with a higher body mass index (BMI) lost more weight than those with a lower BMI.
“For years, I dragged my feet against time-restricted eating because I thought it sounded a little bit trendy and I didn’t quite trust it,” Stephanie Schiff, a registered dietitian nutritionist at Northwell Huntington Hospital, told The Post. “But as the years have gone by and I’ve read more and more studies, I recommend it on a fairly regular basis.”
Schiff, who was not involved with the new research, said she sticks to a 12-hour window, but you should tailor your plan to your lifestyle and nutrition needs.
Whether you practice intermittent fasting or not, Schiff recommends not eating past 6 or 7 p.m.
“What happens is your cortisol levels are going up as you’re eating,” Schiff explained. “If you stop eating at 7, you get time to digest your food, your metabolism starts to slow down and a couple of hours later, when you’re ready to go to sleep, your melatonin has time to rise and help you fall asleep.”
Schiff said if an earlier dinner time is not possible, you should try to consume a heavier meal in the middle of the day and taper off eating by day’s end.
“You can still have that small, healthy snack a few hours after you’ve eaten your large meals,” Schiff advised.
In their analysis, the Bond researchers also found that consuming calories earlier rather than later in the day resulted in more weight loss.
Eating fewer meals throughout the day, meanwhile, was tied to “small reductions in weight.”
The study authors acknowledged “high concerns” about the quality of 22 of the 29 studies and said trials with more participants who are followed for longer periods should be conducted.
