A study has found out that time controlled eating habits can help overweight people to slim down, who are at risk of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. This time-restricted eating can be called as intermittent fasting. Time controlled diet can facilitate overweight people to lose 3 percent of their body weight and cut down belly fat. This diet plan limits the daily intake of food into 10 hours window. It means if someone takes his or her first meal at 8 am, the last meal of the day should be at 6 in the evening. Scientists have observed a group of overweight people who have been following the same diet plan for three months. Participants were allowed to drink water during the 14 hours fasting period. They were asked to keep a track of their first and last meals and their sleep in an app.
Researchers have seen almost 3 percent of weight loss and 4 percent of the reduction in abdominal fat in the participants. There was no change of food while the participants were kept on observation. The findings of the study have indicated that cholesterol levels of the participants have also improved after three months. Blood pressure levels have shown a positive trend as well. Experts have seen an improvement in the sleep quality of the participants. Satchidananda Panda the author of the study said that during the fasting, the body goes into glucose deprivation and it starts using the stored fat as a source of energy. Once the stored fat starts fuelling the body, it becomes easy to lose weight. Surprisingly, small changes in eating habits can bring such great benefits.
This is not the first research, which has proved that fasting is helpful in weight loss. Earlier a study had found out that people who ate their main meal before 3 PM lost more than 5 pounds than the people who ate their last meals quite late in the evening. The latest study has been put together by Satchidananda Panda, Professor at Salk Institute of Biological Studies and Dr. Pam Taub, a heart specialist at the University of California. The research was published in cell metabolism.
