Losing weight is difficult for many people, but keeping the weight off can be even harder.
Many diets work for a short time, only for people to regain much of the lost weight after the program ends. Researchers are therefore searching for simple eating habits that people can continue in everyday life.
One approach that has attracted attention is intermittent fasting. Instead of focusing only on what people eat, this method also pays attention to when people eat.
One of the most popular versions is called the 16:8 plan, where people fast for 16 hours each day and eat all of their meals within an eight-hour period.
A new study involving the University of Granada suggests this simple routine may provide benefits that last well beyond the end of a structured program. The findings were published in the journal Clinical Nutrition, while the main results from the larger research project were previously reported in Nature Medicine.
The study included 99 adults who were overweight or living with obesity, and about half of them were women. Before the program began, everyone received advice on following a healthy Mediterranean diet, which is rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, olive oil, and other nutritious foods.
The researchers divided the volunteers into four groups for 12 weeks. One group continued eating across 12 hours or more each day. Three other groups limited eating to an eight-hour window. One group ate earlier in the day, another ate later, and a third group chose the schedule that suited their daily life.
Scientists measured body weight, body fat, and lean body mass before the program started and again when it ended. They then invited the participants back one year later to see whether the results had lasted after the formal program was over.
The results were encouraging. People who had followed the eight-hour eating window kept more of their weight loss than those who continued eating over a longer period each day. Those who ate earlier in the day also kept a greater reduction in body fat.
An interesting finding was that the timing of the eating window did not make a major difference for overall weight loss. Whether people chose an early or late schedule, both approaches worked better than eating across a much longer part of the day. This gives people more freedom to choose a routine that fits work, family, and social commitments.
The researchers also discovered that around one in three participants continued practicing intermittent fasting on their own during the following year. This suggests many people found the routine practical enough to become part of daily life rather than just a temporary diet.
Intermittent fasting is thought to help some people by naturally reducing the amount of time available for eating. Some people also find it easier to follow than counting calories every day. However, healthy food choices still matter because eating unhealthy foods during the eating window can reduce the benefits.
The research was carried out by scientists from the University of Granada, the Granada Institute for Biomedical Research, the Public University of Navarra, and several Spanish research centers. The team believes time-restricted eating could become another useful tool for managing excess weight, alongside healthy eating and regular physical activity.
The study has several strengths, including its randomized design and the one-year follow-up after the program ended. However, it involved only 99 people, so larger studies in different populations are still needed.
The findings suggest intermittent fasting is not a miracle cure, but it appears to be a flexible and realistic option that may help many people keep weight off for longer when combined with a healthy lifestyle.
If you care about weight loss, please read studies that hop extract could reduce belly fat in overweight people, and early time-restricted eating could help lose weight .
For more health information, please see recent studies that Mediterranean diet can reduce belly fat much better, and Keto diet could help control body weight and blood sugar in diabetes.
Source: University of Granada.
