RCTHuman2018
Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes.
Plain-language summary
This study set out to test whether the benefits of intermittent fasting come only from losing weight. Men with prediabetes ate all their meals inside a 6 hour window early in the day, and separately across a 12 hour window, with enough food both times to hold their weight steady. Early eating improved insulin sensitivity, lowered blood pressure and reduced markers of oxidative stress, with no weight change to explain it. The abstract does not report how many men took part. Two other studies in this library test the same idea of early time-restricted eating in different men, run by unrelated research groups, so the three are independent of each other.
Key findings
- Early time-restricted feeding improved insulin sensitivity.
- Blood pressure and oxidative stress markers improved.
- Appetite was better regulated with early eating.
- Benefits occurred without weight loss.
How to analyze the study yourself
- Study type
- Randomized trials assign people to groups by chance, so differences between groups are unlikely to come from who chose what.
- Population
- Men with prediabetes.
- Funding
- Not reported
- Takeaway
- In men with prediabetes, this study found that eating all meals inside a 6 hour window early in the day improved insulin sensitivity and lowered blood pressure even though nobody lost weight. If your blood sugar runs high, shifting your meals earlier is worth trying.