A pilot study of time restricted eating, in which food is consumed only within a daily eight-hour period, has shown that the plan is simple, easy to follow, and that weight loss is at least as good as that achieved through more complex dietary interventions.

Fifty participants with obesity attempted to follow the plan for 12 weeks. Telephone surveys were conducted weekly, and at 6 and 12 weeks participants attended the clinic to be weighed. Almost 60% of participants were still following time restricted eating at three months, and had lost an average of 3.5kg, but even those who did not manage full adherence also lost weight.

The researchers from Queen Mary University of London say that the adherence and weight loss results are encouraging enough to warrant a randomised trial with long term follow-up.

Corresponding author Dunja Przulj from Queen Mary University of London said: “Simple weight management plans which people can stick to are currently lacking. In this study, more than a quarter of the participants had lost at least 5% of their starting body weight at 12 weeks.”
Full bibliographic information

Research paper: ‘Time restricted eating as a weight loss intervention in adults with obesity’ .Dunja Przulj, Daniella Ladmore, Katherine Myers Smith, Anna Phillips-Waller, Peter Hajek. PLOS ONE 2021.

Source: Queen Mary University of London