According to a recent study, people who limit their food intake to less than 8 hours per day have a 91 percent higher risk of death due to cardiovascular disease.
The preliminary findings presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Scientific Sessions, analyzed over 20,000 adults in the U.S. in addition to the dietary patterns for participants in the annual 2003-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.
“Restricting daily eating time to a short period, such as 8 hours per day, has gained popularity in recent years as a way to lose weight and improve heart health,” said senior study author Victor Wenze Zhong, Ph.D., a professor and chair of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in Shanghai, China.
The study revealed that patients with cardiovascular disease, who restrict eating to less than 10 hours a day, were prone to a 66 percent higher risk of death due to heart disease or stroke.
“We were surprised to find that people who followed an 8-hour, time-restricted eating schedule were more likely to die from cardiovascular disease. Even though this type of diet has been popular due to its potential short-term benefits, our research clearly shows that, compared with a typical eating time range of 12-16 hours per day, a shorter eating duration was not associated with living longer,” Zhong added.
The preliminary findings also highlighted that an eating duration of more than 16 hours per day was associated with a lower risk of cancer mortality among people with cancer.
However, it is to be noted that the findings could have some drawbacks as the report was dependent on self-reported dietary information, which may be affected by the participant’s memory and may not accurately assess typical eating patterns.
“Our study’s findings encourage a more cautious, personalized approach to dietary recommendations, ensuring that they are aligned with an individual’s health status and the latest scientific evidence,” Zhong concluded. “Although the study identified an association between an 8-hour eating window and cardiovascular death, this does not mean that time-restricted eating caused cardiovascular death.”
Earlier, another report suggested that intermittent fasting improved several measures related to heart health, including blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
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