A new study, led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, followed the meal-time habits of more than 500 people for six years and found that weight changes depended on meal size and frequency, rather than start-to-finish intervals. found to be most affected. meal. This research challenges the popular trend of intermittent fasting as a useful weight loss strategy.
Intermittent fasting, also known as timed feeding, is a dietary strategy in which all meals are consumed in short time slots each day. These time frames can span from his 6 hours to his 10 hours, resulting in a person basically fasting for up to 18 hours a day.
In terms of weight loss, there has been much debate about whether intermittent fasting techniques are effective in causing true metabolic changes, or simply make it easier to eat less. A published study found similar weight loss results between time-restricted feeders and all-day eaters when both groups were fed the same calorie-controlled diet. Another previous non-directed intermittent fasting study found that participants who were restricted to eating only eight hours each day instinctively reduced their caloric intake by about 300 calories per day.
This new study took a different approach in investigating the subject. Instead of asking about 550 participants to follow specific eating patterns, researchers tracked the times and amounts of meals they ate each day and correlated them with weight loss patterns over a six-year period.
Each participant in the study used a smartphone app to record their sleep, wake, and meal times over several weeks. This allowed researchers to track the time from first meal to last meal, time from waking to first meal, and time from last meal to sleep for each subject.
Findings revealed no association between the duration of the daily eating window and weight change at 6 years of follow-up. Therefore, there was no significant difference in weight loss if people ate all meals daily in a short window versus a long window.
The study’s lead investigator, Wendy Bennett, told CNN that there were no signals in the data to suggest that cramming meals into a small window every day would affect weight loss.
“Based on other published research, including ours, we’re starting to think that the timing of meals throughout the day is unlikely to lead to weight loss quickly,” Bennett said.
However, it was the total number of medium and large meals eaten by the person per day that made a difference in body weight. Rather than having a metabolic reason, it suggests that eating less frequent, smaller meals ultimately leads to weight loss.
“Experimental studies suggest that time-restricted diets may improve circadian rhythms and play a role in metabolic regulation. Our study detected no associations in populations with a wide range of body weights,” the researchers wrote in their study. Total overall calorie intake is the primary factor in weight gain. “
Of course, that’s not to say that intermittent fasting strategies can’t help you lose weight. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the weight loss benefits occasionally seen with these dietary strategies may come primarily from reduced caloric intake. It’s a useful way to gain control, but it doesn’t mean you can expect to lose weight by eating as much as you want in a short 6 or 8 hour window each day.
The new research American Heart Association Journal.
Source: American Heart Association
