By: Matthew Yang

To lose weight, most people try to reduce their calorie intake. However, studies have shown that eating within a limited ten-hour period can help too.

After eating, human bodies produce insulin that prompts them to store fat. Therefore, reducing the period during which the body produces insulin can help reduce fat and cause weight loss.

Krista Varady, a nutrition researcher, and her colleagues at the University of Illinois Chicago studied 90 people for six months. Their results showed that time-restricted eating between 12:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. was as effective as limiting calorie intake to lose approximately ten pounds of body weight.

Satchidananda Panda, a biologist at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California and his colleagues carried out studies on a group of 19 people who all had metabolic syndrome, a condition that creates a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The participants were allowed to choose their own time window but limited the eating time to fewer than 11 hours for three months. They lowered their calorie intake by nine percent, lost about three percent of their body weight, and reduced belly fat by three percent at the end of the study.

In another study led by Panda and his colleagues, 137 firefighters in San Diego, California, ate a diet that contained lots of fruits, vegetables, fish, and olive oil for three months. Seventy firefighters mostly ate their meals between 8:00 a.m. or 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m., while the rest ate over 13 hours. The researchers found that time-restricted eating reduced blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

“Every cell, every organ has its clock, and every organ needs downtime to repair, reset and regain its rhythm,” said Panda.

If monitoring calorie intake is hard or impossible, time-restricted eating provides an alternative way to lose weight by reducing insulin production.