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People with type 2 diabetes who have followed a time-limited diet lost abdominal fat and improved their blood sugar levels as much as those who calories countedaccording to a new randomized clinical trial that followed a group of 75 people for six months.
“Our results show that time-restricted eating is a viable alternative for people with type 2 diabetes who are tired of counting calories to lose weight,” said the study’s lead author, Krista Varady, professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in an email.
Varady was also the lead author of a July study which found that time-restricted eating had the same impact on weight loss as counting calories among a racially diverse group of 77 people followed for a year.
In the new study, published Friday in Open JAMA Networkpeople who counted time instead of calories also lost a few extra pounds but not much more: There was a 3.6% weight reduction when eating time-restricted eating and a 1.8% loss when counting calories compared to people in the control group who were not dieted .
“We found that by simply limiting the eating window to 8 hours per day, the time-restricted eating group naturally I cut out about 300 calories a day,” Varady said, even though they were allowed to eat whatever they wanted.
Calorie counters were asked to cut out 500 calories a day and found tracking food to be “too tedious, so they ended up cutting out 200 calories a day,” Varady said, a factor she attributes to the difference in weight loss.
What was important — and surprising — was that both groups significantly improved their HbA1c levels, a test that averages blood sugar levels over the previous three months, she said. .
“Both groups reduced HbA1C by almost one point (0.9%). It’s pretty important,” Varady said. “They started with an HbA1c of 8, so now they’re down to 7. Getting below 6.5 would mean they’ve achieved diabetes remission.”
Both groups also lost equal amounts of dangerous visceral abdominal fatwhich contributes to diabetes, heart disease and stroke, Varady said.
“Blood sugar control is more important for people with type 2 diabetes, but losing weight (especially visceral fat) generally leads to better blood sugar control,” she added. “Even though the two groups lost different amounts of weight, they saw similar reductions in their visceral fat and waist circumference.
“We think this could explain why their blood sugar levels improved the same way, even though the weight loss looked different on the scale.”
Do these results mean that time-restricted eating is the best solution for everyone who wants to lose weight? Not quite, said preventive medicine and lifestyle specialist Dr. David Katz. Katz, president and founder of the nonprofit Real health initiativea global coalition of experts dedicated to evidence-based lifestyle medicine, was not involved in the study.
“Time-restricted eating is a tactic, nothing more, nothing less,” Katz said in an email. “This is a tactic to ‘punch a hole’ in daily calorie intake. It does not grant any metabolic magic; associated benefits arise from calorie reduction and therefore weight loss.
Preventative cardiologist Dr. Ethan Weiss followed a time-restricted diet in his personal life until he conducted a clinical test which found no benefits for weight loss or cardiovascular health. In fact, people in his study who fasted from 8 p.m. until noon the next day lost lean mass, including muscle.
However, the new study found no loss of lean muscle mass, Varady said.
A Study 2022 which followed 139 obese Chinese people for a year also found no difference between time-restricted eating and calorie control on body fat, metabolic risk factors, or overall weight.
Weiss said he became enamored with time-restricted meals after studies showed that mice that ate high-fat, high-sugar foods for an eight-hour period didn’t get fat and sick like the other mice eating the same diet all day. In 2014, Weiss began eating only between noon and 8 p.m. He stopped after the negative results of his studies.
“I definitely lost weight doing it,” said Weiss, affiliated with the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco. “But my family hated it, didn’t they? If we went out at 11 a.m., I was always hungry by noon and we had to stop whatever we were doing so I could eat something. They said I was a pain in the ass. »
Weiss was not involved in the new study, and while he believes it was “well done,” he said he thinks the jury is still out on the benefits of counting time compared to calories.
“There’s a huge debate among scientists on the subject, but to me it doesn’t seem like a silver bullet,” Weiss said. “Maybe this can fit into a series of interventions that we can offer to people.” I think that sounds reasonable.
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Making healthy choices is essential to losing weight, experts say, but having support throughout the process makes the journey easier.
The best route to weight loss can differ from person to person, experts say, which is part of the reason why there are so many food options. One thing is clear, however: having support throughout the weight loss journey helps.
“In our study, we ensured accountability by meeting with participants weekly for the first three months and then every two weeks for the last three months,” Varady said. “Work with a dietitian or find a weight loss support group that can provide accountability, as this makes a big difference in sticking to a diet.”
If someone feels that time-restricted eating might work for them, Varady suggests starting with a 10- to 12-hour window, then gradually reducing it to eight hours over a few weeks.
“Anyone with type 2 diabetes should first consult their doctor or dietitian before trying to limit meals, as some medications can cause hypoglycemia if not taken with food,” a- she declared.
Additionally, staying well hydrated during the fasting period can reduce side effects such as headaches due to dehydration, she said.
Time-restricted eating is good for some, but not for others, Katz said. “Having more than one tactic is beneficial because it allows more people to find the method that works best and works best for them,” he said.
“Finally, calorie control tactics can be layered on top of any diet, but do not replace the overall quality of that diet,” he said. “What we eat, when we eat, is more important than when.”
