A study found that those who eat only within eight hours a day have almost twice the risk of heart attack and stroke later in life. Experts said this shows why people should be careful about adopting fad diets before their effects are fully known.
Time-restricted eating, a form of intermittent fasting, involves limiting your meal times to between four and 12 hours within a 24 hour period.
In recent years, the diet has gained popularity among people such as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Elon Musk and actress Jennifer Aniston. This eating pattern is thought to help them stay lean.
Previous studies have linked time-restricted eating to improvements in some indicators of cardiometabolic health, such as blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol.
< p>An early study of 20,000 adults found that those who followed a time-restricted eating plan were 91% more likely to die from cardiovascular disease.
According to findings presented at the Lifestyle Scientific conference American Heart Association Sessions 2024, the fad diet schedule did not reduce the likelihood of participants dying from any cause.
The researchers analyzed information on eating patterns from annual health surveys between 2003 and 2018 and compared it with mortality data for the same period.
Many of those on a time-restricted diet follow an eating schedule 16:8, in which they eat all food within an 8-hour window and abstain from eating it for the remaining 16 hours daily.
This has been found to be associated with a higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease diseases compared to people who eat during 12- and 16-hour windows.
They noted that people with pre-existing cardiovascular disease or cancer are at particular risk. Professor Victor Wenze Zhong, from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, said: “We were surprised to find that people following an 8-hour, time-restricted eating schedule were more likely to die from cardiovascular disease. Although this type of diet is popular for its potential short-term benefits, our research clearly shows that compared to the typical eating time range of 12-16 hours per day, shorter eating times are not associated with increased life expectancy «
The study did not control for other possible confounding factors, such as participants' weight and cholesterol levels, at baseline or during follow-up.
It relied heavily on self-reported information about diet, and other lifestyle factors, such as smoking and exercise levels, were not included in the analysis.
Emeritus Professor of Human Metabolism at the University of Oxford, Kate Frain, explained: “Time-restricted eating is popular as a means of reducing calorie intake, although its proponents claim other benefits such as “boosting metabolism.” This work is important because it shows that we need long-term research into the effects of this practice. But this thesis leaves many questions unanswered and further research will be required.»
Emeritus Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at King's College London Tom Sanders added that despite its popularity, there is little evidence that fasting reduces or weight maintenance: “We know from previous evidence that it is probably better to spread out food intake throughout the day—little but often—rather than consuming large portions of food over a shorter period of time. This is necessary because after a large meal there is a significant increase in fat and glucose in the blood.”
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