Many people have heard that eating three meals a day with a few snacks is the best way to stay healthy.
But new research says this old advice might not be the best for everyone. A growing number of scientists believe that eating less often, within a specific time each day, could help prevent serious health problems like type 2 diabetes and obesity.
This way of eating is called time-restricted eating. It means you eat your meals during a certain window of time—usually about 8 to 12 hours—and then stop eating for the rest of the day.
Most people who follow this plan avoid food for 12 to 14 hours, which usually includes the night. For example, someone might eat breakfast at 8 a.m. and finish dinner by 6 p.m., then not eat again until the next morning.
The idea behind this is simple. When we eat all day long, our bodies have to deal with constant levels of sugar and insulin in the blood. Insulin is a hormone that helps move sugar from our blood into our cells. But if insulin is always high, the body can stop responding to it properly.
This is called insulin resistance and is one of the main causes of type 2 diabetes. Eating too often—especially foods full of sugar and fat—can also lead to weight gain and obesity, which in turn raise the risk for other health issues like heart disease and cancer.
Time-restricted eating gives your body a break. When you’re not eating, your insulin and blood sugar levels drop. This rest period helps improve how your body uses insulin and how it handles sugar.
It can also lower the number of calories you eat each day without needing to count every bite. Studies show that people who follow this pattern naturally eat around 550 fewer calories a day.
This eating style can also help your brain and your gut. The gut, which includes your stomach and intestines, is full of bacteria that help with digestion and affect many parts of your health. Time-restricted eating may help these good bacteria grow, which can reduce inflammation and lower your risk for many diseases.
Some researchers also found that this approach helps regulate hormones that control hunger and energy.
Eating at regular times—especially having a good breakfast—can keep your appetite balanced and help you feel more energetic during the day. But not all breakfasts are the same. Foods like eggs, which are full of protein and healthy fat, are better choices than sugary cereals or sweet pastries.
Not all types of fasting are helpful, though. The researchers found that going without food for several days didn’t offer much extra benefit and may not be safe or necessary for most people.
Right now, more than 40 percent of adults in the United States are obese. Obesity isn’t just about looks—it can cause serious problems like diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Health experts believe that changes in eating habits, like time-restricted eating, could make a big difference.
It’s important to remember that every person is different. What works for one may not work for another, especially depending on your body size and how active you are. Still, eating fewer meals, at regular times, and choosing high-quality foods can help many people stay healthier and avoid chronic diseases.
One more helpful tip: try not to eat late at night. Eating close to bedtime can keep your body busy digesting when it should be resting, which might affect your sleep and overall health.
If you want to learn more about diabetes, there are studies showing how simple things—like eating berries or getting enough zinc—might help prevent or treat the disease. Scientists are also developing new medicines to help manage diabetes and related problems.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about 5 vitamins that may prevent complication in diabetes, and how to manage high blood pressure and diabetes with healthy foods.
For more health information, please see recent studies about vitamin D and type2 diabetes, and to people with type 2 diabetes, some fruits are better than others.
The study about time-restricted eating was published in the journal Nutrients.
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