Time-Restricted Feeding and Metabolic Outcomes in a Cohort of Italian Adults

Abstract

Background: research exploring the effects of food timing and frequency on health and disease is currently ongoing. While there is an increasing body of scientific literature showing the potential health benefits of intermittent fasting (IF) in laboratory settings and in animals, studies regarding IF on humans are limited. Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate the relationship between the feeding/fasting time window and metabolic outcomes among adult individuals. Methods: dietary and demographic data of 1936 adult subjects living in the south of Italy were examined. Food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) were administered to determine the period of time between the first and the last meal of a typical day. Subjects were then divided into those with a time feeding window lasting more than 10 h, within 8 h (TRF-8) and within 10 h. Results: after adjustment for potential confounding factors related to eating habits (such as adherence to the Mediterranean diet, having breakfast/dinner), TRF-10 was inversely associated with being overweight/obese (OR = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.07), hypertension (OR = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.45), and dyslipidemias (OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.63), while TRF-8 only with being overweight/obese (OR = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.15) and hypertension (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.17, 0.60). No associations were found with type-2 diabetes. Conclusions: individuals with a restricted feeding time window were less likely to be overweight, obese and hypertensive. Further studies are needed to clearly validate the results of the present study.

Adherence to Mediterranean Diet Measured through Medi-Lite Score and Obesity: A Retrospective Study

“…Despite these advantages, Medi-Lite has a limitation in that no cut-off values have been identified so far. To date, the data derived from its administration have been used through the analysis of tertiles or quartiles of its distribution in the specific population of interest [5][6][7][8]19,20]. In the present study, we identified possible threshold values that are associated with an increased risk of this obesity, a growing concern in both industrialised populations and developing countries [21].…”

“…In 2014, our group developed an adherence score based on data from the scientific literature, called Medi-Lite, which allows the assessment of adherence to the Mediterranean diet through simple questions about the consumption of the main food components of the Mediterranean diet [3]. The Medi-Lite questionnaire was validated in 2017 [4], and several studies using the questionnaire in different populations have recently been published [5][6][7][8].…”

Differential Effects of One Meal per Day in the Evening on Metabolic Health and Physical Performance in Lean Individuals

“…It could be possible that the participants changed the macronutrient composition of their meals to maintain isocaloric intake during the one meal per day period. Moreover, we cannot exclude the beneficial role of ketone bodies nor the changes in the gut microbiome ( Jamshed et al, 2019 ; Currenti et al, 2021a , b ). Furthermore, we did not observe a decrease in lean mass during the one meal period reduction intervention, which may suggest that there was no increased net protein catabolism (e.g., decreased protein intake or use of amino acids for gluconeogenesis).…”

Time-Limited Eating and Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Adolescents with Obesity: A Pilot Study

“…Multiple trials, conducted globally, in adult populations have examined the efficacy of various fasting regimens, including alternate day fasting, fasting mimicking diet, and time-restricted eating (TRE) [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. Time-restricted eating involves shortening the eating window to a pre-specified number of hours per day (6 to 10 h) and fasting for the remaining hours of the day, without altering diet quality and quantity [30,31].…”

“…Time-restricted eating involves shortening the eating window to a pre-specified number of hours per day (6 to 10 h) and fasting for the remaining hours of the day, without altering diet quality and quantity [30,31]. TRE has been shown to be well-tolerated and safe in adult populations, while promoting β cell responsiveness and reduction in fat mass [20,21,24,25,[32][33][34][35]. However, the feasibility and effectiveness of TRE in adolescents has been questioned due to concerns of poor adherence, fear of iatrogenic adverse events (such as increased disordered eating behaviors [33][34][35][36]), and consequences on development.…”