The Secret To Weight Loss? It’s Not What You Eat, It’s When You Eat!
Imagine knowing that you could lose a significant amount of weight in a short period of time by changing when and how often you eat. What if there was a method of losing weight that didn’t involve calorie counting or cutting out certain foods from your diet? Believe it or not, such a dieting method exists and its results are incredibly impressive!
Time-restricted feeding (TRF) is a diet that entails eating within a certain window of time. The concept involves only eating within this confined window without limiting calories or making restrictive food choices. TRF allows you to eat what you want without worrying about portion control – however, it must be allotted to a certain duration of time.
Research has shown that eating within a 8 to 12 hour window can aid in weight loss, prevent diabetes, cancer and heart disease, while promoting longevity. Not only did this research show substantial health benefits, it also showed that participants experienced a boost in cognitive function and improved physical performance.
Biologist Satchin Panda of the Salk institute in San Diego believes that TRF is a more effective way of eating because our bodies are not meant to have access to food around the clock. He argues that the habit of eating food early in the morning until late at night is disruptive to our circadian rhythm, which leads to weight gain. While the majority of this research is based on evidence found in studies that were performed on mice, there are researchers who have found similar benefits through data compiled from studies conducted on humans.
Researchers at The Obesity Society Annual Meeting at Obesity Week 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana presented important evidence that showed that TRF is also effective in humans. Courtney Peterson, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences at UAB explained, “Eating only during a much smaller window of time than people are typically used to may help with weight loss…We found that eating between 8am and 2pm followed by an 18-hour daily fast kept appetite levels more even throughout the day, in comparison to eating between 8am and 8pm, which is what the average American does.”
Research by the TOS has shown that adults who participated in TRF didn’t necessarily consume less calories, however, they were able to control cravings, burned more fat and experienced improved metabolic performance of burning fats and carbs!
Thinking of trying out TRF? The good news is that the diet is relatively simple to follow and you’ll never feel deprived. Courtney Peterson, PhD, an assistant nutrition science professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham explains, “Restricting your eating between 8am and 2pm [like subjects in my latest study] is difficult….But no one dropped out because it was too extreme. The biggest challenge people encountered was eating so much food in such a short period of time. People felt so stuffed!”
On the other hand, there still remains a lot of questions about the effectiveness of TRF, as most of the research has been conducted on mice. Nutrition researcher David Allison, dean of the University of Indiana School of Public Health states, “TRF is an interesting and valuable idea, but it’s not proven that it works in humans…There is some evidence to suggest that it might be useful for some things. But it’s extraordinarily complex to actually nail this down.”
If you’re looking to ease into TRF, Peterson suggests starting out 2 or 3 days a week to allow your body to adjust. Gradually increase the number of days and monitor how you feel. Does this diet seem sustainable? Is this something you could realistically fit into your lifestyle? Keep track of how your body feels and decide if TRF is your secret to losing inches and gaining an energized body!
