Time-restricted eating reduces visceral fat and improves metabolic syndrome
This study was in Chinese people who were overweight and were eating a lot of carbs (~300g a day). Presumably this was largely high GI rice. IF made a modest difference. They also lost some muscle mass, as expected. The study tested a lot of different variables, apparently without adjusting for multiple hypothesis testing.<p>Hard to generalise these results. If you are eating a toxic diet, I guess more time without it is a good thing. A similar study in a Western population showed no effect of isocaloric IF [1]. In another study, IF with energy restriction in obese subjects was more effective than energy restriction without IF [2].<p>I don’t see that the data supports IF as a universal strategy. If you are obese, then these studies suggest eating less, for less hours of the day and less at night is probably beneficial. Otherwise, as far as health interventions go, exercise has a much larger magnitude of benefit than dietary interventions. It also has the major advantage of simplicity - more exercise is better for everyone everywhere at every age [3]. Contrast this with the utterly confusing state of nutrition science. And exercise also makes a difference even when you do a little bit, whereas eating a little bit better does almost nothing.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;jamanetwork.com&#x2F;journals&#x2F;jamainternalmedicine&#x2F;fullarticle&#x2F;2771095" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;jamanetwork.com&#x2F;journals&#x2F;jamainternalmedicine&#x2F;fullar...</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;jamanetwork.com&#x2F;journals&#x2F;jamainternalmedicine&#x2F;article-abstract&#x2F;2794819" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;jamanetwork.com&#x2F;journals&#x2F;jamainternalmedicine&#x2F;articl...</a><p>[3] This is not 100% true. There are some contraindications to exercise for people with specific conditions.<p>EDIT: When talking about the benefits of exercise versus diet, I mean the effects on health in general (mortality, lifespan, healthspan). Exercise isn&#x27;t an effective method of weight loss as others have indicated.