Healthy Support

Does it matter what time of day I eat? And can intermittent fasting improve my health?

Early hunter-gatherers faced long periods of fasting. Their access to food relied on successful hunting, fishing and the availability of wild plants.

Over time, the development of modern agriculture and the transition to industrialised societies changed our regular eating patterns, shifting our dinner time to later in the day to accommodate work schedules.

Today, with access to an abundance of food, we rarely experience prolonged periods of fasting, except for weight loss or religious practices. It’s now common to have four or more meals a day, with the most calories consumed later in the day. Frequent snacking is also common, over a window of around 15 hours.

However, research increasingly shows our health is not only affected by what and how much we eat, but also when we eat. So what does this mean for meal scheduling? And can intermittent fasting help?

 

Our body clock controls more than our

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Healthy Support

Type of Intermittent Fasting Helps Manage Blood Sugar Levels

  • A small new study links intermittent fasting to better blood sugar management.
  • Eating 80% of calories before 1 p.m. was more effective at blood sugar management than following a regular eating pattern.
  • Experts say more research is needed before this strategy can be recommended—and it could pose some problems for certain groups.

A new study finds that a restricted eating plan that involves eating the bulk of your calories earlier in the day may help with blood sugar management—and reduce the chances of developing type 2 diabetes in people at risk of the condition.

The study, which was just presented at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, followed 10 people who had obesity and high blood sugar levels.

The researchers had participants follow either an early time-restricted feeding pattern, where 80% of their calories were consumed before 1 p.m., or a normal eating pattern, where half the day’s

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Healthy Support

Eating Most of Your Meals Before 1pm Lowers Blood Sugar

  • Prediabetes affects millions of adults in the US.
  • A new study indicated that early time-restricted fasting may help reduce blood sugar fluctuations in those with prediabetes and obesity.
  • The findings potentially indicate a future treatment option for those with prediabetes.
  • More research on the impacts of fasting on blood sugar and prediabetes is required.

Researchers say they may have a way to help people with prediabetes avoid slipping into a case of full diabetes.

In the US, 96 million adults — equivalent to over one-third of the population — have prediabetes.

Prediabetes is when an individual has higher than normal blood sugar levels. However, they’re not high enough to be diagnosed as full or “overt” diabetes.

Various approaches can help reduce blood sugar and potentially prevent an individual from developing overt diabetes. These include maintaining a moderate weight and engaging in regular exercise.

New research from NYU Langone Health

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