Does Time-Restricted Eating Cut Extra Belly Fat?

TOPLINE:

Time-restricted eating (TRE) doesn’t significantly reduce visceral adipose tissue (VAT) but leads to significant reductions in body weight compared with usual care in adults with overweight or obesity.

METHODOLOGY:

• Although previous studies suggest that TRE may lead to modest weight loss and improvements in cardiometabolic health, the optimal timing of the eating window in TRE and its impact on VAT remains unclear.
• To examine the effects of different TRE schedules on VAT and cardiometabolic health, researchers conducted a 12-week multicenter randomized clinical trial in Spain in adults with overweight or obesity (body mass index ≥ 25 and
• Participants were randomly assigned into four groups: Usual care, early TRE, late TRE, and self-selected TRE.
• The usual care group maintained their eating schedule and received education on the Mediterranean diet and physical activity. The TRE groups also received the usual care but followed an 8-hour eating window. Early TRE participants started eating by 10:00, late TRE participants started eating after 13:00, and self-selected TRE participants chose their preferred eating window.
• The primary outcome was the change in VAT, measured using MRI, after the intervention at 12 weeks.

TAKEAWAY:

• Researchers randomized 197 adults (99 men and 98 women) to usual care (n = 49; mean age, 46.7 years), early TRE (n = 49; mean age, 47.2 years), late TRE (n = 52; mean age, 48.0 years), and self-selected TRE (n = 47; mean age, 45.2 years).
• No significant differences in VAT changes were observed between the TRE groups and the usual care group.
• Body weight reduction was greater in all TRE groups than in the usual care group, with the mean difference (MD) being −2.9 kg for the early TRE group, −2.4 kg for the late TRE group, and −3.1 kg for the self-selected TRE group (P
• Compared with the usual care group, the early TRE group showed a greater reduction in subcutaneous adipose tissue (MD, −5%; P = .005), fasting glucose levels (MD, −6 mg/dL; P = .01), and energy intake (MD, −307 kcal/d; P = .01).
• Mild adverse events, including hypoglycemia, thrombosis, migraine, headache, and colitis, were reported in the TRE groups (one event each), but no serious adverse events occurred.

IN PRACTICE:

“These results underscore the potential of TRE to facilitate substantial weight loss, even without specific dietary counseling on caloric restrictions,” the authors wrote. “TRE, regardless of when the eating window occurs, tends to lead to similar energy deficits, resulting in similar changes in body weight and composition.”

SOURCE:

This study was led by Manuel Dote-Montero and Antonio Clavero-Jimeno, Sport and Health University Research Institute, Granada, Spain. It was published online in Nature Medicine.

LIMITATIONS:

The sample size and short duration may have limited the ability to detect differences in VAT and other outcomes. Only personnel evaluating primary outcomes were blinded, whereas others operated under an open-label approach. Including a Mediterranean diet intervention may have increased heterogeneity and decreased statistical power. The lack of follow-up prevented the evaluation of long-term impacts.

DISCLOSURES:

The authors acknowledged receiving funding for the study from the MCIU/AEI, ERDF EU A Way of Making Europe, Junta de Andalucía, University of Granada, and other Spanish institutions. They reported additional funding from the EXERNET Research Network on Exercise and Health and other institutions. One author declared receiving lecture fees from Novo Nordisk and Abbott outside the submitted work.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.