According to a study, the number and quantity meal are the more important predictors of weight gain or reduce the interval between meals. The study’s findings were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.
According to senior study author Wendy L. Bennett, MD, MPH, an associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, despite the ‘time-restricted eating pattern’ – so-called intermittent fasting – Commonly, well-designed studies have not yet determined whether limiting the total amount of food eaten during the day helps control weight. (Also read: Intermittent Fasting: Dietitian tips for making fasting easier and healthier )
This study evaluated the association between the time from the first meal to the last meal and weight change. Nearly 550 adults (18 years and older) from three health systems in Maryland and Pennsylvania with electronic health records were enrolled in the study. Participants had enrolled at least one weight and height measurement in the two years prior to study enrollment (February-July 2019).
Overall, most of the participants (80%) said they were white; 12% self-reported as Black adults; and about 3% identified themselves as Asian adults. Most of the participants reported having a university degree or higher; average age is 51 years old; and a mean body mass index of 30.8, which is considered obese. The median follow-up for weight recorded in electronic health records was 6.3 years.
Participants with a higher body mass index at enrollment were more likely to be black, older, with Type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure, less educated, less physically active. eat less fruit and vegetables, eat longer than their bedtime meal, and have a shorter time from their first meal to their last meal than adults with a lower body mass index.
The team created a mobile app, Daily24, for participants to catalog their sleeping, eating, and waking times for each 24-hour window in real time. Emails, text messages, and in-app notifications encouraged participants to use the app as much as possible during the first month and again during the “energy week” — one week per month for the intervention six months of the study.
Based on the daily sleep and meal times recorded in the mobile app, the researchers were able to measure:
the time from the first meal to the last meal each day; the lapse of time from waking up to the first meal; and the time from the last meal to bedtime. They averaged all data from completed days for each participant.
Although the study found that meal frequency and total calorie intake were stronger risk factors for weight change than meal timing, these findings could not prove causation. and direct results, says study lead author Di Zhao, PhD, an associate scientist in the department of cardiovascular and clinical epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The researchers note that there are limitations to the study because they did not evaluate complex interactions in terms of timing and frequency of eating. In addition, because the study was observational, the authors could not conclude cause and effect. Future studies should aim to include a more diverse population, as the majority of study participants are highly educated white women from the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, the the author noted.
The researchers were also unable to determine the study participants’ weight loss goals before they enrolled, and could not exclude the additional variable of any pre-existing health conditions.
According to the 2022 statistics of the American Heart Association, 40% of adults in the US are obese; and the Association’s current diet and lifestyle recommendations for reducing cardiovascular disease risk include limiting overall calorie intake, eating healthy foods, and increasing physical activity.
The American Heart Association’s 2017 scientific statement: Meal timing and frequency: Implications for cardiovascular disease prevention does not provide a clear preference for frequent small meals or intermittent fasting. paragraph. It notes that irregular patterns of total calories appear to be less favorable for maintaining optimal body weight and cardiovascular health. And, changing meal frequency may not be helpful in reducing body weight or improving traditional cardiovascular risk factors.
This story was published from the wire dealer’s feed without text modification. Only the title has been changed.
