Effects of time-restricted eating in form of 16:8 diet on glucose metabolism in overweight women: a pilot cross-over trial

Aims Evidences suggest that meal time-based strategies can be employed to prevent obesity, diabetes and associated diseases. The aim of this pilot project was to investigate whether early or late time-restricted eating (eTRE, lTRE) improves glucose metabolism in overweight subjects.

Methods In an ongoing cross-over trial, 10 overweight non-diabetic women (age 61.8±1.3 y; BMI 30.9±0.9 kg / m2, n = 6 with impaired glucose tolerance) consumed two 2-week diets (1) eTRE (eating time between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.) versus (2) lTRE (eating time between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m.). Subjects were asked to consume their usual food quality and quantity. Glycemic control was assessed by an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and by a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) during the run-in and each intervention phase.

Results During both TRE phases, study subjects showed a high timely compliance and minimal weight loss (eTRE: -1.7 %, lTRF: -0.7 %) upon unchanged dietary composition and ~150 kcal of calorie deficit. Fasting glucose, glucose iAUC0-120 in OGTT and daily mean glucose in CGM were not changed after both interventions. However, eTRF induced a decrease of fasting and 30 min insulin levels and marked improvements of HOMA-IR and Matsuda index, whereas no effects of lTRF were observed. eTRF also showed a tendency to improve the mean of daily glucose differences (MODD) in CGM.

Conclusion Upon minimal calorie restriction, eTRE improves insulin sensitivity in subjects with high diabetes risk after a short-term intervention, whereas lTRF has no impact on glycemic traits. Further investigations in a larger cohort are needed.

Publication History

Article published online:
06 May 2021