Are There Benefits to Time-Restricted Eating?
Eating a later breakfast and an earlier dinner can reduce body fat, says a British study.
Winning the battle of the bulge may mean going without food for just a little longer. A small, 10-week British study with 13 participants found that people who were required to delay their breakfast by 90 minutes and eat their dinner 90 minutes earlier than normal lost on average more than twice as much body fat as those in the control group, who ate their meals at their usual times. The research was published in the Journal of Nutrition Science.
Participants could eat as much as they wanted of whatever they wanted, but only within a certain eating window. Those in the time-restricted feeding group ended up eating fewer calories overall, which likely explains the outcome. Larger studies are needed to determine if this method of fasting can bring about lasting weight loss and other health perks.
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD, is a James Beard Award–winning food journalist, dietitian and author of the cookbook Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sport + Adventure (VeloPress 2016). He has written for dozens of magazines, including Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Muscle and Fitness.
