Early time-restricted feeding (eTRF) may be a useful dietary strategy for diabetes prevention and improving glycemic outcomes, according to a new study presented at the Endocrine Society’s 2023 annual meeting.
“eTRF is a form of intermittent fasting that involves restricting calories to the early hours of the day,” says study lead author Joanne Bruno, MD, PhD, an endocrinology fellow at NYU Langone Health. “This feeding strategy, through its effect on blood glucose levels, may prevent those with prediabetes or obesity from progressing to type 2 diabetes.”
“This feeding strategy may prevent those with prediabetes or obesity from progressing to type 2 diabetes.”
Joanne Bruno, MD, PhD
For their study, the researchers compared eTRF (80 percent of calories consumed before 1:00PM) to a usual feeding pattern (50 percent of calories consumed after 4:00PM) among 10 participants with prediabetes and obesity.
Food was provided to meet the patients’ caloric needs for weight maintenance to determine the weight-independent effects of this strategy and patients wore continuous glucose monitors throughout the study. The study is the first to evaluate the effects of eTRF on glycemia and inflammation independent of weight loss.
“We decreased the time these individuals were having high blood glucose levels with just one week of eTRF feeding.”
Jose O. Aleman, MD, PhD
“We decreased the time these individuals were having high blood glucose levels with just one week of eTRF feeding,” says study senior author José O. Alemán, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine. “The findings show that eating a majority of one’s calories earlier in the day reduces the time that the blood glucose is elevated, thereby improving metabolic health.”
