Many people who lose weight eventually gain it back. Keeping weight off is often much harder than losing it in the first place.
Scientists have been searching for simple eating habits that people can continue for years instead of only a few weeks.
A new study from the University of Granada and several research partners suggests that one popular form of intermittent fasting may help people do exactly that. The research was published in Clinical Nutrition.
The researchers studied 99 adults who were overweight or living with obesity. About half were women. Everyone first received education about the Mediterranean diet, which encourages eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, olive oil, fish, and other nutritious foods. During the 12-week study, participants were divided into four groups.
One group continued eating across a period of 12 hours or longer each day. Three other groups followed a time-restricted eating plan, also called the 16:8 method. They fasted for 16 hours and ate all of their meals within an eight-hour window. Some ate earlier in the day, some later, and others chose the eating window that suited their daily lives.
The scientists measured body weight, body fat, and lean body mass before the program, after 12 weeks, and again one year later. They found that people who followed the eight-hour eating window were better at keeping the weight off than those who stayed with a longer eating schedule.
Those who ate earlier or later in the day both maintained greater weight loss after one year. The early eating group also kept more of their body fat loss.
The study builds on earlier findings from the same research project, published in Nature Medicine, which showed that people following time-restricted eating lost about three to four kilograms more than those who only received healthy eating advice. One year later, many of those improvements were still present.
Researchers were also encouraged that about one in every three participants chose to continue intermittent fasting on their own after the formal study had ended. This suggests the habit may fit into everyday life for many people.
Scientists believe this flexibility is important because not everyone has the same work schedule or family routine. Since both early and late eating windows worked well, people may be able to choose the schedule that best matches their lifestyle while still gaining benefits.
Healthy food choices, regular physical activity, good sleep, and long-term consistency remain essential for lasting weight control.
This study has several strengths. It followed participants for a full year after the 12-week program ended, allowing researchers to see whether the benefits lasted. It also compared different eating schedules instead of testing only one type of intermittent fasting.
However, the study included only 99 people, so larger studies in different countries and age groups are still needed. The research also focused on overweight and obese adults, meaning the results may not apply to everyone.
In addition, participants received education about the Mediterranean diet, so some of the weight loss may have been influenced by healthier food choices as well as the eating schedule.
Overall, the findings suggest that the 16:8 approach can be a practical and flexible way to help many people maintain weight loss, especially when combined with a healthy diet and long-term lifestyle changes.
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.
