The Study
Early Time-Restricted Eating Affects Weight, Metabolic Health, Mood, and Sleep in Adherent Completers: A Secondary Analysis
This study watched two groups of people eat at different times and saw that those who stuck to eating only in the morning lost more weight and felt better. But it only looked at the people who followed the rules really well—not everyone. So we can't say it will work for everyone, just that it might help people who can stick to it.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
People who ate only between 7am and 3pm for 14 weeks lost more weight, felt less tired and angry, and had better blood sugar than those who ate longer hours — but they slept less and took longer to fall asleep.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 568 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The weight loss and metabolic improvements are clinically meaningful, but the sleep disruption may offset some benefits — it’s unclear if feeling less tired despite sleeping less is a net gain.
- 2Lost 3.7 kg more weight, 2.8 kg more fat, lowered blood sugar by 9 mg/dL, reduced insulin resistance by 2.80 HOMA-IR, heart rate dropped 7 bpm, fatigue and anger improved, but sleep shortened by 30 minutes and took 7 minutes longer to fall asleep.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)
Year
2022
Authors
Felicia L. Steger, Humaira Jamshed, David R. Bryan, J. Richman, A. Warriner, Cody J. Hanick, C.K. Martin, S. Salvy, C. Peterson
Related Content
Claims (6)
Obese adults who ate only between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. for 14 weeks lost 3.7 kg more body weight and 2.8 kg more body fat than those who ate over a 12-hour or longer window.
Obese adults who eat only during a narrow window earlier in the day for 14 weeks show lower insulin resistance and lower fasting blood glucose levels than those who eat over a 12-hour or longer window.
Obese adults who eat only during an early window for 14 weeks experience a 7 beats per minute larger drop in heart rate than those who eat over a 12-hour or longer window, reflecting a measurable change in cardiovascular autonomic tone.
Obese adults who eat only during a narrow window in the morning and early afternoon for 14 weeks experience larger decreases in self-reported fatigue and anger than those who eat over a 12-hour or longer period.
Obese adults who eat only during a narrow window earlier in the day sleep 30 minutes less and take 7 minutes longer to fall asleep than those who eat over a 12-hour or longer period.
People who feel better emotionally while on a ketogenic diet for weight loss experience this improvement regardless of whether they have clinical depression.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.