People who restrict their eating to less than eight hours a day are more likely to die from heart disease, according to a new study.

A preliminary study presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Science Session 2024, held March 18-21 in Chicago, found that people on time-restricted eating plans People who eat for 12 to 16 hours a day may become sick, which has been shown to put them at higher risk of dying from heart disease.

Time-restricted eating, commonly known as intermittent fasting, involves restricting your daily eating times to specific times, which can range from 4 to 12 hours out of a 24-hour period.

The researchers noted that most people who practice intermittent fasting eat only within eight-hour windows and fast for 16 hours.

Previous research has shown that time-restricted eating improves several indicators of cardiometabolic health, including blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels.

“Restricting your daily meals to a short period of time, such as eight hours a day, has become increasingly popular in recent years as a way to lose weight and improve heart health,” said Victor Victor, lead study author and professor in the department. Wenze Zhong said. in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.

“However, the long-term health effects of time-restricted eating, including the risk of death from any cause or cardiovascular disease, are unclear,” he added.

What did the research find?

• People who ate their entire meal within eight hours a day were 91% more likely to die from heart problems.
• An increased risk of cardiovascular death was also seen in people with heart disease and cancer.
• For people with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, eating for more than eight hours but less than 10 hours per day was also associated with a 66% higher risk of death from heart disease or stroke.
• Time-restricted eating does not reduce the overall risk of death from any cause.
• Eating more than 16 hours per day was associated with a lower risk of cancer death in cancer patients.

“We were surprised to discover that people who followed an 8-hour time-restricted eating schedule were more likely to die from cardiovascular disease. This type of diet is popular because it offers short-term benefits. However, our research clearly shows that, compared to the typical eating range of 12 to 16 hours per day, research shows that shorter meal times are associated with longer lives. “It shows that there is no such thing,” Zhong said.

Research details and background

• The study involved approximately 20,000 U.S. adults with an average age of 49.
• Study participants were followed for a median of 8 years and a maximum of 17 years.
• The study included data from NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) participants who were 20 years of age or older at enrollment from 2003 to 2018 and who completed two 24-hour dietary recall questionnaires within one year of enrollment. There is.
• Approximately half of the participants identified as male and half identified as female.

Research limitations

However, this study has limitations as most of the data relies on self-reported dietary information.

This data may be affected by participant memory and recall and may not accurately assess typical dietary patterns.

This study suggests that while time-restricted eating may be effective in the short term, it may have negative long-term effects.

Christopher D. Gardner, Ph.D., Lemborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine at Stanford University in Stanford, California, emphasized the need for further research to compare dietary nutritional values ​​and demographics to better understand the study results.