Okay. First a disclaimer. I’m not a doctor (and I don’t play one on television) or a nutritionist, but I am a curious motherfucker. If I’m interested in a subject, I will research the hell out of it until I know everything there is to know about said subject. Case in point: ask me anything about the last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II, and his assassinated family. Anything.
If the subject has to do with looking younger, having a better body or living till I’m 105 and still wearing heels and bikinis, well… no rabbit hole is too deep enough for the dive.
So it was with great fervor that I dove into Time Restricted Eating. And what I learned convinced me I needed to try it.
Back to the disclaimer: This is what I’m doing come February (January was a bust). But you do you. And check with your doctor before you do you.
What is it
The concept confused me at first because there is a lot of confusion about the subject, as well as misinformation. That’s what happens when something becomes a fad – everyone on the Internet suddenly becomes an expert and the facts get jumbled. Which is why I skipped all the so-called “health sites” and went directly to science.
Time-restricted eating (TRE), on the surface, shares many characteristics with intermittent fasting. The difference, however, is that TRE takes into account the timing of the food with relationship to our internal biological clocks (circadian rhythm).
Also, intermittent fasting involves caloric restriction. TRE allows a person to eat as much as they want during the eating window.
Essentially, Time-restricted eating is a method of eating (it’s not a diet) where you eat all your food within a window of about 8 – 12 hours during the day and fast for the rest.
During the 12-16 hours of overnight fasting, you are giving the gut time to rest and to repair.
Example:
Eat within 8 hours, fast for 16 hours.
Eat within 10 hours, fast for 14 hours.
Eat within 12 hours, fast for 12 hours.
My math skills are impressive, no?
Those are windows that have been studied.
There are other similar terms used with similar methods, such as Calorie Restriction, Modified fasting, Alternate-day fasting, and Prolonged fasting. Some fasts can extend into 48 hours or even a week or more. But that’s not what I’m talking about here.
That’s a little too intense for a foodie like myself, and I already sacrifice enough in the name of health and vanity. I’m good.
Benefits
Here’s the thing. Most of the studies have been done on mice. This is an area that’s in its infancy (much like myself). But, there is a lot of human anecdotal evidence for the benefits. Especially for gut-related issues and for reducing inflammation.
What they have found is that by restricting the little mice to a 12-hour feeding window, they are healthier and have these benefits…
♥ Decreased Fat mass
♥ Increased lean muscle mass and endurance
♥ Improved glucose tolerance
♥ Improved lipid profiles
♥ Reduced inflammation
♥ Protection from age-related fatty liver
♥ Balanced hormones
They have also discovered that a time–restricted feeding schedule in which all calories are consumed consistently within the 8-12 hour window every day has many health benefits.
TRF prevents excessive body weight gain, improves sleep, and is linked with protection from breast cancer.
There is also growing evidence that this method of eating has benefits for people with autoimmune diseases, IBS, acid reflux, and leaky gut.
There is a study by the American Heart Association that TRE may be beneficial to cardiovascular health, too.
And a study published in June 2018 in the journal Cell Metabolism concluded that TRE improves insulin sensitivity and blood pressure and reduces oxidative stress…and (this is a good one) appetite.
These are some questions I had about TRE. You may have the same questions.
Does this mean you can eat anything you want during the 8 hours?
That’s what I thought at first. I had cheeseburgers and fries dancing in my head. Chocolate molten brownies with a scoop of vanilla ice cream were in my future. I was just about to leave my house and make the exactly-three-minute walk to the newly opened cupcake shop that makes my favorite ever dark chocolate cupcake deliciousness when something stopped me.
Was it common sense?
Sadly, further investigation (no matter how many fingers and toes I crossed) led me to the correct answer. NO. It’s not a free for all. You still should eat healthfully during your eating window.
The cheeseburgers and fires have stopped dancing.
Can I stop eating later in the day, say 9 PM and start eating again the next day at around noon?
What I learned is that TRE seems to be more effective if you stop eating 2 to 4 hours before bed and eating earlier the next day.
Again, it has something to do with our circadian rhythm and this is at the heart of the studies being done by Dr. Sachin Panda, a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, and the one I’ve been looking into the most. His work deals specifically with the timing of food as it relates to our circadian rhythm. The way he describes it is like this:
If we have food in our system at the time we go to bed, blood flow is directed towards our stomach to digest and absorb our food. Our core body temperature remains high and does not let us get a good night’s sleep.
When the body has metabolized all the food, the gut can rest and repair and it helps you get better sleep. You wake up lighter and less bloated.
Also, when you stop eating earlier in the evening, you eliminate late-night snacks and Mommy’s little helper (wine). That alone will help keep the weight off.
If you’d like to have dinner with me, meet me at the Denny’s for the Senior Citizen specials. I hear they’re great. Also, nest cruise, you can find me dining with the old folks at the first dinner seating.
What can you drink while fasting?
There are a lot of different answers to this question. I’ve heard that you can have anything that does not have calories, like black coffee or herbal tea outside your feeding window. And this is where it gets murky. They don’t know for sure. They believe it’s ok to have black coffee and tea, and even some flavored waters, but it’s not set in stone.
If you can do that, great. I have found that if I have green tea or peppermint tea at night after I’ve stopped eating, that it helps with my cravings. And in the morning, I WILL have black coffee. That’s a deal-breaker. Enough already.
But what about the weekends?
Good news. One or two days of binge eating still seems to be okay and does not interfere with the benefits, as long as you stick to your time window the other 5 days.
Now, as an addition to that question, what about wine?
Well, little mice don’t appear to drink wine so they haven’t tested this. Be your own mouse.
It doesn’t need to be complicated
The best way to go about it is to pick a time-restricted eating window that you can adhere to and that fits your lifestyle. Anything between 8 and 12 hours. That’s so doable. I’m aiming for 8 hours (because I’m an over-achiever). So, I’ll stop eating at 7 PM and start eating the next day at 11 AM.
I’ve tried it a few times, and it’s challenging. I’m used to having a tiny snack at around 9 pm. This is just a habit though, so I’m sure once I get through that withdrawal period I’ll be fine.
Since this is a new area of research, but one that shows promise for health and longevity, you need to do your own study. Try it out, play with different windows of eating, and see how you feel. I’m a believer in being my own health advocate. This is something that is free, fairly easy to incorporate in your life, and easy to gauge. If it works, keep it. If it doesn’t try something else.
If you’re like me and want to get geeky with it, here are some sources you can dive into. The first goes into great detail and sites an additional 39 sources. Now you too can dive into the rabbit hole.
Circadian rhythms, time–restricted feeding, and healthy aging.
I will report back on my personal findings once I’ve tried Time-restricted eating for a while.
Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried Time-restricted eating and what your thoughts are about it.
xoxo
I followed TRE for years with great success. The only difference was, it was years before anyone called it anything. Lol. I just stopped eating any food after 6pm. This worked great while I was married. It’s social death to do it when you’re single. So now I’m trying ADF with good success. In general I prefer to have a few hours between when I stop eating and when I go to sleep. My body prefers, no matter the science. So curious to hear the follow up on it. I have a blog in the works on the same topic…great minds, dear friend
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Social death and marital discord, haha. I’m trying to convince the hubby that TRE will be good for him so because its hard to do when your partner likes eating dinner after 9PM! My goal: eat like a senior citizen during the week…eat like a 25-year-old party animal (the hubs) on the weekend. And our minds are in sync are they not?