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Time-Restricted Eating

Episodes

time-restricted eating

This Is Everything Rhonda Patrick Eats in a Day

Posted on January 21st 2025 (4 months)

In this clip, Dr. Rhonda Patrick shares her approach to time-restricted eating, meal composition, protein sources, and her typical daily eating schedule.

metabolism

How to Improve Metabolic Health with HIIT, Circadian-Timed Eating, & Sleep

Posted on October 7th 2024 (8 months)

Dr. Rhonda Patrick explains how HIIT, circadian-timed eating, and quality sleep improve metabolic health and reduce chronic disease risk.

exercise

Dr. Layne Norton on Building Muscle – Insights on Diet, Training, and Supplements

Posted on August 26th 2024 (9 months)

Dr. Layne Norton and I discuss fat loss, resistance training, seed oils, the carnivore diet, artificial sweeteners, and much more.

Topic Pages

  • Sleep Regularity

    Sleep regularity refers to the consistency of one's sleep schedule and is associated with a wide range of physical and mental health outcomes.

News & Publications

  • What are the optimal time-restricted eating patterns for cardiovascular wellness? pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
    Diet Obesity Diabetes Cholesterol Time-Restricted Eating Blood Pressure Cardiovascular

    Time-restricted eating is a dietary pattern that restricts the time during which a person eats to a specific window, such as a “16:8" pattern, where they fast for 16 hours a day and consume food only during the remaining eight hours. Evidence suggests that time-restricted eating improves cognitive function, supports weight loss, and reduces systemic inflammation. Findings from a recent review and meta-analysis suggest that time-restricted eating also reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

    Researchers analyzed the findings of 33 studies involving 1,725 participants investigating the effects of time-restricted eating on markers of cardiovascular health. They conducted a sub-group analysis to determine how age, health characteristics, and eating patterns influenced the effects of time-restricted eating.

    They found that the effects of time-restricted eating on cardiovascular disease varied according to a person’s risk factors, age, and when they ate. The table below presents their findings for the optimal time-restricted eating for different groups.

    This meta-analysis and review identifies the optimal time-restricted eating interventions for blood pressure, obesity, lipids, and glucose. It effectively provides a best-practices guide for people interested in implementing time-restricted eating as a lifestyle modification to improve cardiovascular health. Learn more about time-restricted eating in this episode featuring Dr. Satchin Panda.

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  • Time-restricted eating activates genes involved in metabolism and autophagy. www.sciencedaily.com
    Metabolism Genetics Autophagy Time-Restricted Eating

    Time-restricted eating influences the activation of roughly 70 percent of all genes in mice, a new study shows. Mice that ate on a time-restricted schedule had fewer active genes involved in inflammation and oxidative stress and more active genes involved in metabolism and autophagy – a cellular defense mechanism.

    Researchers fed two groups of mice a Western-style diet, which is high in fat and sugars, for seven weeks. One group was allowed to eat whenever they chose to, but the other group was allowed to eat only during a nine-hour window each day. At the end of the seven-week intervention, the researchers analyzed gene activity in the animals' tissues at different times of the day.

    They found that time-restricted eating altered the activity of more than 80 percent of genes involved in protein synthesis, folding, and maintenance. They also found that time-restricted eating altered amino acid, fat, and glucose metabolism and re-aligned the circadian rhythms of the animals' organs.

    These findings suggest that time-restricted eating influences gene activity in mice. If the findings translate to humans, they could have far-reaching implications for chronic metabolic disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and other diseases. Learn more about the health benefits of time-restricted eating in this episode featuring Dr. Satchin Panda, the senior investigator for this study.

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  • Time-restricted eating improves athletic performance. www.mdpi.com
    Exercise Fasting Fat Muscle Time-Restricted Eating

    Time-restricted eating involves restricting the timing of food intake to certain hours of the day (typically within an 8- to 12-hour time window) without an overt attempt to reduce caloric intake. Increasing the amount of time spent fasting each day has been used to treat metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol, increase muscle mass, decrease fat mass, and improve exercise performance. Findings of a recent report demonstrate the beneficial effects of time-restricted eating on exercise performance in power athletes.

    Increasing muscle mass and decreasing fat mass is an important goal for many athletes because increasing their strength-to-mass ratio improves performance. While time-restricted eating is one strategy to improve body composition, previous research has shown that other types of intermittent fasting (e.g., religious fasting during Ramadan) decrease power output and endurance. Another study involving intermittent fasting with caloric restriction found similar deficits in athletic performance. The effects of long-term time-restricted eating without caloric restriction are unknown.

    The researchers recruited healthy young males who were currently practicing a power-sport at least three times per week and had been practicing for at least three years. Twelve participants (average age, 22 years) completed four weeks of time-restricted eating and four weeks of a standard meal pattern in random order with two weeks of wash-out in between. During the time-restricted eating period, participants consumed all of their food within an eight-hour window. The researchers measured body composition using X-ray and athletic performance using the Wingate test, a cycling challenge that measures power and total work.

    Time-restricted eating produced a significant increase in total work (a measure of force over a set distance) and average power output (a measure of work over time). These improvements translated to a one second reduction in sprinting time. The participants achieved this change after four weeks of time-restricted eating, but not after one week. Time-restricted eating did not improve peak power, endurance, or body composition.

    Time-restricted eating, along with regular training, improved exercise performance in athletes. Given that the difference between the current and former 400 meter running world records is only 15 hundredths of one second, the one second decrease in sprinting time produced by time-restricted eating is meaningful.

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  • Fasting reduces the numbers of circulating monocytes in healthy humans and mice without compromising immune function. www.mountsinai.org
    Fasting Time-Restricted Eating

    Fasting and other forms of caloric restriction are associated with reduced risk of many chronic diseases. Monocytes, white blood cells that play key roles in the body’s immune response, can contribute to the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases. Findings from a new study demonstrate that fasting reduces the number of circulating monocytes without compromising immune function.

    The authors of the study analyzed blood samples from 12 healthy adults taken at the beginning of the study (baseline), three hours after they ate, and 19 hours after commencing a fast. All the samples were taken at the same time of day (3pm). After fasting, the participants' blood levels of monocytes were markedly lower than after eating. Fasting did not lower blood levels of monocytes below the normal range in people whose baseline levels were already low.

    The study was replicated in mice, with a fasting protocol suitable for rodents. The outcome was similar, with monocytes drastically reduced. A longer fast in the mice yielded even more favorable reductions in monocytes in various tissues as well as reductions in several types of leukocytes, including eosinophils, natural killer cells, and T cells.

    These findings illuminate the role of dietary intake in the regulation of the body’s immune and inflammatory responses and suggest that fasting and other forms of caloric restriction may be viable strategies to reduce inflammation in chronic disease states.

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