This content originally appeared on On a regular basis Health. Republished with permission.
By Becky Upham
Individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) lost more weight by eating whatever they wanted, but only during an eight-hour window, than individuals who were instructed to chop their calories by 25 percent, in line with a brand new study published today in JAMA Network Open.
Each groups had similar reductions in long-term blood sugar levels, as measured by a test of hemoglobin A1C, which shows blood sugar levels over the past three months.
“Our findings show that time-restricted eating [also called intermittent fasting] is a great alternative to calorie counting for individuals who can’t do the standard food plan or are burned out on it,” says the study’s senior creator, Krista Varady, PhD, a professor of nutrition on the University of Illinois in Chicago. For many individuals attempting to drop pounds, counting time is less complicated than counting calories, she says.
This study demonstrates that time-restricted eating can result in modest weight reduction in individuals with type 2 diabetes, says Sun Kim, MD, an associate professor of medication and an endocrinologist who focuses on the treatment of T2D at Stanford University Medical Center in California. “Provided that the instructions for time-restricted eating are fairly easy to offer and follow, this can be a nice choice to confer with patients,” says Dr. Kim, who was not involved with the research.
Latest Progressive Weight Loss Strategies Are ‘Critically Needed’
It’s estimated that about 1 in 10 U.S. adults has T2D, in line with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If current trends proceed, by 2050, 1 in 3 people could have the disease.
Weight reduction — achieving a healthy weight through dietary changes, physical activity, weight reduction medications or procedures like bariatric surgery — can reduce blood glucose levels and in some cases even result in T2D remission. That’s why revolutionary strategies to assist people achieve and maintain a healthy weight are critically needed, in line with the authors.
Over 90 Percent of Participants Were People of Color
To explore whether time-restricted eating is a more practical strategy to drop pounds and improve blood sugar than calorie restriction, investigators enrolled 75 participants with a mean age of 55 years old, a mean BMI of 39, and an HbA1C level of 8.1 percent.
Because the name suggests, time-restricted eating is when food and liquids containing calories are consumed only during certain hours of the day. Most time-restricted eating studies up to now have checked out eating “windows” between 4 and 12 hours long.
A complete of 53 subjects were women, 40 percent were Hispanic, 53 percent were Black, 5 percent were white, and 1 participant was Asian. The upper-than-normal percentage of Hispanic and Black participants within the study is notable because diabetes is prevalent amongst those groups, so having studies that document the success of time-restricted eating for them is especially useful, the researchers said.
In keeping with the American Diabetes Association, the rates of diagnosed diabetes are:
- 5 percent of Native Americans/Alaskan Natives
- 1 of Blacks
- 8 of Hispanics
- 5 percent of Asian Americans
- 4 percent of white people
Time-Restricted Eating Group Lost Twice as Much Weight as Calorie Counters
Participants were split into three groups: those that followed the time-restricted eating rules, those that restricted calories, and a control group who didn’t change how they ate.
The time-restricted eating group ate whatever they wanted between 12 p.m. and eight p.m. every day — they weren’t asked to count calories or eat certain varieties of food. Through the 16-hour window of fasting, they were encouraged to drink plenty of water and were allowed to drink calorie-free beverages. They kept a log and recorded the times once they began and stopped eating every day.
The people within the calorie restriction group were instructed to scale back their calorie intake by 25 percent in line with their baseline energy need, which was calculated at first of the trial. Meaning if an individual needed 2,000 calories to perform basic life-sustaining function, their goal was to chop that by 500 calories and eat just one,500 calories per day. People on this group met with a dietitian at first of the study who helped them develop individualized weight reduction meal plans and log their food intake into an app every single day.
Participants’ weight, waist circumference, blood sugar levels, and other health indicators were measured throughout the trial.
In six months, the time-restricted eating group lost 3.6 percent of their body weight, and the calorie-counting group lost 1.8 percent of the body weight compared with the control group. Each groups reduced their HbA1C by 0.9 percent.
“We were surprised that the calorie restriction group didn’t lose more weight. In most studies taking a look at individuals with obesity, the time-restricted eating and calorie restriction groups lose the identical amount of weight,” says Dr. Varady.
Time-Restricted Eating May Be Easier to Follow Than Traditional Weight-reduction plan
Varady suspects it boils right down to three reasons. “Taking a look at the adherence data, the time-restricted eating group was more adherent to their food plan than the calorie restriction group,” she says. At the least a part of that could be because patients with diabetes are generally told to in the reduction of on calories by their doctors as a primary line of defense, so a lot of these participants likely had already tried — and struggled with — that type of weight-reduction plan, in line with the authors.
“Also, most participants within the time-restricted eating group reported that the food plan was easy to follow, and not less than half the participants within the calorie-restriction group reported the food plan was difficult to follow,” says Varady.
And at last, it could come right down to numbers: The calorie-restriction group reduced their intake by a mean of only 197 calories per day, while the time-restricted eating group reduced their intake by 313 calories per day.
Weight Loss Was Relatively Modest When Compared With Latest Weight Loss Drugs
“Intermittent fasting is trendy, and persons are desirous to try it,” says Dr. Kim. “I believe there is best data for earlier time-restricted eating (eating between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Nevertheless, this time period is harder to adapt, as dinner is a really social meal in our society,” she says.
In Kim’s experience, the success of intermittent fasting (as with many other weight reduction interventions) is variable. “Many patients do find it difficult to take care of long run. Within the study, people were adherent about six days per week,” she says.
The findings also highlight that losing a few pounds isn’t easy, says Kim. The burden loss for the time-restricted eating group was modest (lower than 4 percent) compared with effects from currently available GLP-1 receptor agonist medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro, approved for diabetes and weight reduction, she says.
Each Groups Had the Same Average Blood Sugar Reductions
Varady and her team were also surprised that though weight reduction was different, the HbA1C reduction and mean glucose reduction was the identical. “This is perhaps because though the 2 groups lost different amounts of weight, that they had similar reductions of their visceral fat and their waist circumference. We speculate that this is perhaps why their blood sugar improved similarly, though the burden loss was different on the size,” she says.
Many experts imagine that belly fat is just as necessary as BMI. An excessive amount of belly fat not only increases T2D risk, it’s also related to the next risk of heart disease and stroke, per the CDC.
Kim points out that there are various variables that impact blood sugar, including the tweaks made to diabetes medications, which gave the impression to be greater within the time-restricted eating group. “Perhaps the greater surprise is that patients in calorie restriction had a meaningful decline in A1C. This will be a tribute to working with dietitians to scale back carbohydrate intake,” she says.
Concerned about Intermittent Fasting? Talk With Your Doctor First
There have been no serious antagonistic events reported throughout the six-month study. Occurrences of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) didn’t differ between the food plan groups and control groups.
The study was small and ought to be followed up with larger ones, says Varady. While this acts as a “proof of concept” to point out that time-restricted eating is secure for individuals with T2D, they need to seek the advice of their doctors before starting this kind of food plan, she adds.