Looking to accelerate your weight loss goals?
New research finds that intermittent fasting, eating fewer meals during the day and focusing on caloric intake earlier in the day for at least 12 weeks can help you lose more weight than following standard care and getting advice nutritious.
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 rather than what you eat.
Intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating—restricting eating to a specific time of 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, decreased 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 keeping an eating window of eight hours or less per day produced the greatest weight loss.
The 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 trendy and I didn’t really believe in it,” Stephanie Schiff, a registered dietitian 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 in the new research, said she sticks to a 12-hour time frame, but you should tailor your plan to your lifestyle and nutritional needs.
Whether you practice intermittent fasting or not, Schiff recommends not eating after 6 or 7 p.m.
“What happens is your cortisol levels go up while you’re eating,” Schiff explained. “If you stop eating at 7, you have time to digest the food, your metabolism starts to slow down, and a few hours later, when you’re ready to sleep, your melatonin has time to rise and help you fall asleep. .”
Schiff said that if an earlier dinner isn’t possible, you should try to eat a heavier meal in the middle of the day and taper off later in the day.
“You can eat that small, healthy snack a few hours after you eat your big meals,” advises Schiff.
In their analysis, the Bond researchers also found that consuming calories earlier rather than later in the day resulted in more weight loss.
Meanwhile, eating fewer meals during the day was associated with “smaller weight reductions.”
The study authors acknowledged “major concerns” about the quality of 22 of the 29 studies and said trials with more participants followed for longer periods should be conducted.
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