Weight Loss

Time-Restrictive Eating Is not Effective for Adults With Overweight, Obesity

Time-restricted eating does not result in weight loss or cardiometabolic benefits, according to the results of a recent study.

The researchers conducted a prospective randomized clinical trial to examine the safety and efficacy of time-restricted eating, as well as the association between a 16:8-hour schedule and weight loss.

Included were 116 adults with overweight or obesity throughout the United States. All participants were aged between 18 to 64 years and had a body mass index of 27 kg/m2 to 43 kg/m2. A Bluetooth scale was given to every participant. In addition, a subset of 50 participants living within the San Francisco, California, area also completed in-person testing.

All participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups for the 12-week study period: the consistent meal timing (CMT) group, where participants ate 3 structured meals per day, or the time-restricted eating (TRE) group who ate ad libitum from 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm with no caloric intake between 8:00 pm and the following 12:00 pm.

The results indicated that there was a significant decrease in weight in the TRE group (-0.94 kg), as well as a significant within-group decrease in weight for the in-person subgroup (-1.70 kg). The researchers found no significant change in weight in the CMT group (-0.68 kg) or between the groups (-0.26).

“…Time-restricted eating was associated with a modest decrease (1.17%) in weight that was not significantly different from the decrease in the control group (0.75%),” the researchers said of their findings.

Whereas the primary outcome of the study was weight loss, secondary outcomes included changes in weight, fat mass, lean mass, fasting insulin, fasting glucose, hemoglobin A1c levels, estimated energy intake, and total and resting energy expenditure. The only notable secondary outcome was a significant difference in appendicular lean mass index between groups (-0.16 kg/m2).

Time-restricted eating, in the absence of other interventions, is not more effective in weight loss than eating throughout the day,” the researchers concluded.

 

—Leigh Precopio

 

Reference:

Lowe DA, Wu N, Rohdin-Bibby L, et al. Effects of time-restricted eating on weight loss and other metabolic parameters in women and men with overweight and obesity: the TREAT randomized clinical trial. JAMA Int Med. 2020;180(11);1491-1499. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.4153