A new study has shown that restricting food intake to an 8-hour time window helps maintain weight loss for up to 12 months after the end of the structured eating program.
The study included 99 overweight or obese adults and applied the intermittent fasting method known as 16:8, in which participants fast for 16 hours and eat only during an 8-hour window.
The participants were divided into four groups, all of which followed an educational program for the Mediterranean diet. These included a control group that maintained its usual pattern (12 hours or more), an early fasting group (between 9 am and 5 pm), a late fasting group (between 1 pm and 9 pm), and a group that chose its own window.
The results showed that both the early and late fasting groups were able to maintain significantly greater weight loss after a year, with the early fasting group excelling in maintaining a greater reduction in fat mass.
This study is part of a larger project detailed in the journal Nature Medicine, in which participants in intermittent fasting lost an additional 3-4 kilograms compared to the group that received only dietary recommendations.
The new findings confirm that these effects are not temporary, but are sustained for a full year after the cessation of the organized intervention.
"We have shown that changes in body weight persist a year after the intervention ends," says Dr. Alba Camacho, lead author of the study.
The researchers add that "one in three people decided to continue intermittent fasting on their own during the follow-up period, indicating that it is a habit that is easy to integrate into daily life." The results also offer valuable flexibility, as both early and late timings proved effective, allowing patients to choose what best suits their lifestyle.
The study was led by a team from the University of Granada and its Biomedical Research Institute, in collaboration with the hospitals of Granada, the University of Navarra and the CIBER Network Research Centers.
Researchers confirm that just 12 weeks of intermittent fasting may represent an effective strategy for medium-term weight control, with positive effects lasting for many months, opening new horizons in the treatment of obesity and its associated diseases.
The study was published in the journal Clinical Nutrition.
