By: Jonathan Han
A recent year-long study revealed an intriguing approach to weight management. Researchers suggest that compressing you’re eating day, rather than counting calories, might be just as effective in achieving weight loss. This discovery challenges traditional notions of dieting and creates exciting possibilities for those who look to lose weight while eating the food they want.
The study revealed that people who didn’t change what they ate–but only ate between noon and 8 p.m. lost significant weight that was comparable to people who cut daily calories by 25%. Both groups lost about 4% of their body weight. Senior author Krista Varady, a researcher at the University of Illinois Chicago, said although both yielded similar results, the one that focused on time instead of calories “is an easier diet to adhere to.”
According to the CDC, almost 42% of Americans are obese, and 32% are overweight. Those who are obese are more likely to be subject to severe health conditions and pour about $2,500 more into medical care than the average citizen. As health concerns related to body weight continue to grow, so does interest in dieting. A massive 49% of Americans attempt to lose weight, according to the CDC.
The old reliable way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume, but keeping track of calories is pricy, time-consuming, and requires lots of discipline. However, time-restricted eating has become a popular substitution for weight loss in recent years. The idea of time-restricted eating is to compress the eating day into a six to eight-hour window to reduce the insulin the body produces. This method is much simpler and seems like the obvious choice between the two weight loss strategies, but is it truly just as effective as the tried-and-trued counting calories?
Varady and her colleagues compiled 90 obese participants and split them into three groups. Group One was required to only eat between noon and 8 p.m. Group Two was assigned to reduce caloric intake by 25%/500 calories. Lastly, the third group was asked to follow their regular eating and exercise routines.
After a year, the members of the time-restricting eating group lost 7.7 pounds, while the calorie-tracking group lost 9.5 pounds. The difference between the two groups wasn’t too significant. However, Group Three gained 2.4 pounds over the year.
Varady concluded that people who desire to lose weight would succeed using either method. But time-restricted diets may be the preferred option when considering accessibility and time commitment. “It is a simple diet. You don’t need to buy expensive products or change things out in your pantry. You just must decide on a time window and stick to it for as long as you can,” she said.