Title here
We have suggested adoption of intermittent
fasting protocol that precludes eating after 6 PM in order to avoid risks and
ramifications that are connected with food intake that’s scheduled too close to
our bedtime.
However, this new study done by LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center asserts that our eating window should close as early as 3 PM.
The study shows that eating all of your meals by mid-afternoon, and fasting the rest of the day improves blood sugar control, blood pressure and oxidative stress, even when people don’t change what they eat.
Here is the summary of the study:
“Intermittent fasting (IF) improves cardiometabolic health; however, it is unknown whether these effects are due solely to weight loss. We conducted the first supervised controlled feeding trial to test whether IF has benefits independent of weight loss by feeding participants enough food to maintain their weight. Our proof-of-concept study also constitutes the first trial of early time-restricted feeding (eTRF), a form of IF that involves eating early in the day to be in alignment with circadian rhythms in metabolism. Men with prediabetes were randomized to eTRF (6-hr feeding period, with dinner before 3 p.m.) or a control schedule (12-hr feeding period) for 5 weeks and later crossed over to the other schedule. eTRF improved insulin sensitivity, β cell responsiveness, blood pressure, oxidative stress, and appetite. We demonstrate for the first time in humans that eTRF improves some aspects of cardiometabolic health and that IF’s effects are not solely due to weight loss.”
The researchers discovered that eTRF improved insulin sensitivity, which reflects how quickly cells can take up blood sugar. It also improved their pancreases’ ability to respond to rising blood sugar levels.
The researchers also found that eTRF dramatically lowered the men’s blood pressure, as well as oxidative stress levels and appetite levels in the evening.
The research concluded:
“In conclusion, 5 weeks of eTRF improved insulin levels, insulin sensitivity, β cell responsiveness, blood pressure, and oxidative stress levels in men with prediabetes—even though food intake was matched to the control arm and no weight loss occurred. Our trial was the first randomized controlled trial to show that IF has benefits independent of food intake and weight loss in humans. Our study was also the first clinical trial to test eTRF in humans and to show that eTRF improves some aspects of cardiometabolic health. Our trial tested eTRF in men with prediabetes—a population at great risk of developing diabetes—and indicates that eTRF is an efficacious strategy for treating both prediabetes and likely also prehypertension. We speculate that eTRF—by virtue of combining daily intermittent fasting and eating in alignment with circadian rhythms in metabolism—will prove to be a particularly efficacious form of IF. In light of these promising results, future research is needed to better elucidate the mechanisms behind both intermittent fasting and meal timing, to determine which forms of IF and meal timing are efficacious, and to translate them into effective interventions for the general population.”
Full text of the study: https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(18)30253-5
The results of this study are quite encouraging for anyone considering adoption of an intermittent fasting protocol.
Is It Length of the Fasted State?
In conclusion, we would like to point out that
this study used daily feeding periods of different length (6-hour period versus
12-hour period). Consequently, the two groups had drastically differing daily duration
of the fasted state.
It remains to be seen and further tested, whether this fact may have been the driving force behind the outcomes of the study, contributing more than the exact timing of closure of the eating window.
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