Eating habits greatly affect our health. One interesting eating pattern is called “intermittent fasting.” This is when you eat for some hours of the day, and fast for the rest.
Scientists are keen to find out how this might help our health. In a recent study, a type of intermittent fasting called “Early Time-Restricted Feeding” (eTRF) was shown to help control blood sugar levels.
The Science of Eating and Fasting
The study was presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in 2023.
The Endocrine Society is a group of doctors and scientists who study hormones, which are chemicals in your body that control many things, including how your body uses food for energy.
The lead scientist of the study, Dr. Joanne Bruno, explained that eTRF helped keep blood sugar levels stable. Blood sugar is the amount of sugar in your blood, which comes from the food you eat.
Your body uses this sugar for energy. But, having too much sugar in your blood can lead to health problems, like type 2 diabetes.
How Does eTRF Work?
In eTRF, you eat most of your food in the first 6 to 8 hours of the day. That means having a good breakfast and lunch, but a very light or no dinner at all.
Previous studies had already hinted that this might be good for heart health and blood sugar control.
In this study, Dr. Bruno and her team wanted to see if the benefits were due to weight loss or because of the fasting itself.
They arranged a special experiment where 10 people with prediabetes and obesity were fed a controlled diet for two weeks.
The Results of the Experiment
The researchers found that when the participants followed eTRF (eating 80% of their food before 1 p.m.), their blood sugar levels were more stable.
They also found that the participants’ weight did not change much during the experiment. This suggested that eTRF can help control blood sugar, even without weight loss.
Dr. Bruno pointed out that having most of your calories earlier in the day reduces the time your blood sugar stays high, which can be good for your health.
What’s Next?
While the study suggests eTRF might be a good way to control blood sugar levels, more research is needed to fully understand its benefits.
Researchers need to confirm these results in more people and over longer periods.
Also, while eTRF seems helpful, it doesn’t mean everyone should start skipping dinner right away.
Always talk to your doctor before making big changes to your diet, especially if you have health conditions like diabetes or obesity.
Conclusion
Eating is an essential part of our lives. But what, when, and how we eat can affect our health in big ways.
The study on eTRF gives us more knowledge about how changing our eating patterns might help keep us healthy.
So next time you’re thinking about what to have for dinner, remember, your choice could have a big impact on your health!
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about how fasting may help reverse high blood pressure, and this olive oil could reduce blood pressure in healthy people.
For more information about blood pressure health, please read studies that cherry concentrate could lower blood pressure as much as drugs, and 3 grams of omega-3s a day keep high blood pressure at bay.
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