No need to count calories.
Blood sugar, which corresponds to the level of glucose in the blood, naturally increases after eating and varies more or less during the day. But because of certain foods, it can rise more sharply. These “spikes” in blood sugar are bad for health and weight. When repeated, they promote chronic diseases (such as diabetes), fatigue and cravings. Paying attention to the foods you eat is therefore important to maintain stable blood sugar levels, but meal times also count according to the conclusions of English researchers.
Their study involved 15 overweight, sedentary adults, including 9 women and 6 men, with an average age of 56. Before the tests, these people were in the habit of eating their meals from breakfast to dinner within a 14-hour window each day. The researchers assigned them to two different diets for 3 days. The first diet consisted of eating between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. and the second diet consisted of eating between noon and 8 p.m. Both diets included the same amount of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
According to the results presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) meeting in Madrid, eating meals within an 8-hour window and fasting for the remaining 16 hours of the day”Significantly improves daily time spent in normal blood sugar range and reduces blood sugar fluctuations”. That’s not all, the results of this type of fasting can “to be observed in just three days” highlighted Dr Kelly Bowden Davies of Manchester Metropolitan University (UK).
Intermittent fasting 16/8 is an eating pattern in which meals for the day are eaten during an 8-hour window, before a 16-hour fast. It is already credited with reducing bloating, intestinal problems, snacking, fatigue and an increase in good mood. The English researchers add to this the improvement of blood sugar control, which in particular reduces the risk of diabetes. “Many people find it difficult to count calories in the long term, but our study suggests that clock monitoring may offer a simple way to improve blood sugar control in people at risk of type 2 diabetes, regardless of when they have their 8-hour eating window, warranting investigation in larger, longer-term studies.” concludes Dr Bowden Davies.
