3 Weight Loss Strategies Recognized as Most Effective: New Study

Want to reach your weight loss goals fast?

New research results What periodic fastingeating fewer meals throughout the day and focusing your calorie intake at the beginning of the day for at least 12 weeks can help you lose more weight than following standard care and getting nutritional advice.

Researchers at Bond University in Australia analyzed 29 clinical trials with a total of 2,485 participants to find out whether it’s better to change when you eat rather than what you eat.

In previous studies, intermittent fasting or food restriction—restricting food intake to a specific time of day—had mixed results.

Some studies have linked this method to weight loss, lower risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, inflammation decreases and improving immune function.

But serious research this year found that those who limit their diet less than eight hours a day are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than people who eat for 12 to 16 hours.

A new review published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open reports that keeping the eating window to eight hours a day or less resulted in the greatest weight loss.

The Bond researchers also found that intermittent fasting participants with a higher body mass index (BMI) lost more weight than those with a lower BMI.

“For years, I shied away from restricting food because I thought it sounded a little trendy and I didn’t really trust it,” Stephanie Schiff, registered dietitian nutritionist at Northwell Huntington Hospitaltold The Post. “But as the years went by and I read more and more research, I recommend it pretty regularly.”

Schiff, who wasn’t involved in the new study, said she sticks to the 12-hour window, but you should adapt your plan to your lifestyle and nutritional needs.

Whether you practice intermittent fasting or not, Schiff recommends do not eat after 6 or 7 in the evening

“What happens is that your cortisol levels go up when you eat,” Schiff explained. “If you stop eating at 7 o’clock, you have time to digest your food, your metabolism starts to slow down, and a couple of hours later, when you’re ready to go to bed, your melatonin has time to rise and help you fall asleep. .”

If an early dinner isn’t possible, Schiff said, you should try to eat a heavier meal in the middle of the day and cut back later in the day.

“You can still have that small, healthy snack a few hours after you’ve eaten a big meal,” Schiff advised.

In their analysis, the Bond researchers also found that consuming calories earlier rather than later in the day led to greater weight loss.

Meanwhile, eating fewer meals during the day was associated with “slight weight loss.”

The study’s authors acknowledged “major concern” about the quality of 22 of the 29 studies and said trials with more participants followed over a longer period of time should be conducted.