Does Intermittent Fasting Actually Work? Study Finds Meal Frequency Matters More Than Timing

A recent six-year study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found no association between the timing of the first and last meals and weight loss.

New research published in American Heart Association Journal Meal frequency and amount were found to have a greater impact on weight loss or gain than the time frame between the first and last meal.

According to senior study author Wendy L. Bennett, M.D., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, despite the popularity of intermittent fasting, it remains to be determined whether restricting total meal times can help with weight management. No research yet.

This study evaluated the relationship between the time from the first meal to the last meal and weight change. Approximately 550 adults (18 years and older) with electronic medical records from her three health care systems in Maryland and Pennsylvania were enrolled in the study. The participant had weight and height measurements recorded at least once during his 2-year period up to the study enrollment period (February 2019 to her July).

Overall, most participants (80%) reported being Caucasian adults. 12% self-reported as black adults. About 3% self-identify as adults of Asian descent. Most participants reported having at least college education. The average age he was 51 years old. The average body mass index is 30.8, which is considered obese. He had a mean follow-up of 6.3 years for weight recorded in the electronic health record.

Participants with a higher body mass index at enrollment were more likely to be black, older, with type 2 diabetes or hypertension, less educated, less active, less fruit and vegetable intake, and longer time since last meal. there was. Shorter time from first meal to last meal compared with adults with lower body mass index.

The research team created Daily24, a mobile application for participants to catalog their sleep, meal, and wake times in real time for each 24-hour window. By email, text message, and in-app notification, the participant was asked to use the app as much as possible during his first month and “power week” (his week a month in her six-month intervention portion of the study). prompted to use.

Based on daily sleep and meal timings recorded in a mobile app, researchers were able to measure:

• The time from the first meal to the last meal of each day.
• Time from waking up to first meal.and
• Time from last meal to bedtime.

They calculated the average of all data for each participant’s completed day.

Data analysis revealed the following:

• Meal timing was not associated with weight change during the 6-year follow-up period. Includes bedtime interval and total sleep time.
• The total number of large meals (estimated at 1,000 calories or more) and moderate meals (estimated at 500–1,000 calories) per day were each associated with weight gain at 6 years of follow-up, whereas small meals were of meals (estimated to be less than 1,000 calories) were low. 500 calories) were associated with weight loss.
• The average time from first meal to last meal was 11.5 hours. The average time from waking to the first meal was 1.6 hours. The average time from last meal to sleep was 4 hours. Mean sleep time was calculated to be 7.5 hours.
• This study detected no association between meal timing and weight change in a broad weight population.

Although previous studies suggested that intermittent fasting might improve body rhythms and regulate metabolism, as reported by Bennett, this study found that large We did not detect this association in a large group. It is very difficult to conduct large, rigorous clinical trials of intermittent fasting for long-term weight change. However, even short-term intervention studies may help guide future recommendations.

Although the study found that meal frequency and total caloric intake were stronger risk factors for weight change than meal timing, the results of this study provide evidence for direct cause and effect. I couldn’t. Department of Cardiovascular and Clinical Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The researchers note that the study has limitations because it did not assess the complex interplay of meal timing and frequency. The authors were unable to conclude cause and effect. Because the majority of study participants were well-educated Caucasian women from the Atlantic coast of the United States, future studies should be directed to include more diverse populations. Work needs to be done, the authors noted.

Researchers were also unable to determine the weight loss intentions of study participants prior to enrollment and could not rule out additional variables of pre-existing health conditions.

According to American Heart Association 2022 statistics, 40% of adults in the United States are obese.Association’s current diet and lifestyle Recommendation Reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease includes limiting your overall calorie intake, eating healthy foods, and increasing physical activity.

of 2017 American Heart Association Scientific Statement: Meal Timing and Frequency: Implications for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention I definitely didn’t like frequent small meals or intermittent fasting. Irregular patterns of total caloric intake appear less favorable for weight maintenance and optimal cardiovascular health. may not be useful in improving risk factors for

Reference: “Associating Meal and Sleep Intervals with Weight Change Over Time: The Daily24 Cohort,” Di Zhao, Eliseo Guara, Thomas B. Wolfe, Lindsay Martin, Harold Lehmann, Janelle Coughlin, Katherine Holzauer, Attia A. Goheer, Kathleen M. McTigue, Michelle R. Lent, Marquis Hawkins, Jeanne M. Clark, Wendy L. Bennett, 18 January 2023, American Heart Association Journal.
DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.122.026484

This study was funded by an American Heart Association Strategic Funding Research Network grant to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.