Lose weight with this 16:8 diet

Washington: Aiming to lose weight? According to a study, time-restricted eating can help.

The study, by University of Illinois at Chicago, is the first to examine the effect of time-restricted eating -- a form of fasting that limits food consumption to select hours each day -- on weight loss in obese individuals.

To study the effect of this type of diet, researchers worked with 23 obese volunteers who had an average age of 45 and average body mass index, or BMI, of 35.

Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. the dieters could eat any type and quantity of food they desired, but for the remaining 16 hours they could only drink water or calorie-free beverages. The study followed the participants for 12 weeks.

When compared to a matched historical control group from a previous weight loss trial on a different type of fasting, the researchers found that those who followed the time-restricted eating diet consumed fewer calories, lost weight and had improvements in blood pressure.

On average, participants consumed about 350 fewer calories, lost about 3 percent of their body weight and saw their systolic blood pressure decreased by about 7 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), the standard measure of blood pressure. All other measures, including fat mass, insulin resistance and cholesterol, were similar to the control group.

"The take-home message from this study is that there are options for weight loss that do not include calorie counting or eliminating certain foods," said Krista Varady.

While this is the first study to look at the 16:8 diet, named for its 16 hours of fasting and its 8 hours of "feasting".

"The results we saw in this study are similar to the results we've seen in other studies on alternate day fasting, another type of diet," Varady said, "but one of the benefits of the 16:8 diet may be that it is easier for people to maintain. We observed that fewer participants dropped out of this study when compared to studies on other fasting diets."

"The 16:8 diet is another tool for weight loss that we now have preliminary scientific evidence to support," Varady said. "When it comes to weight loss, people need to find what works for them because even small amounts of success can lead to improvements in metabolic health."

The study appears in the journal Nutrition and Healthy Aging.