Eating within 10-hour window may help stave off diabetes: study

Washington : Metabolic syndrome affects nearly 30 per cent of the US population and increases the risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. But lifestyle interventions such as adopting a healthy diet and increasing physical exercise are difficult to maintain and, even when combined with medication, are often insufficient to fully manage the disease. The study was published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
Researchers from the Salk Institute and the UC San Diego School of Medicine found that a 10-hour time-restricted eating intervention, when combined with traditional medications, resulted in weight loss, reduced abdominal fat, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and more stable blood sugar and insulin levels for participants.
The study could lead to a new treatment option for metabolic syndrome patients who are at risk of developing life-altering and costly medical conditions such as diabetes.
According to Satchidananda Panda, co-corresponding author and professor in Salk’s Regulatory Biology Laboratory, “We have found that combining time-restricted eating with medications can give metabolic syndrome patients the ability to better manage their disease.” “Unlike counting calories, time-restricted eating is a simple dietary intervention to incorporate, and we found that participants were able to keep the eating schedule,” said Panda.
Time-restricted eating (eating all calories within a consistent 10-hour window) supports an individual’s circadian rhythms and can maximize health benefits, as evidenced by previous research published by the Salk team.