We all know the health risks that come with being overweight or obese. As a result many of us have dieted or been a bit careful with what we eat at some point in our lives.
While there is nothing wrong with being mindful of what we’re consuming, taking a more extreme approach could actually be detrimental to our health.
A new study has revealed that people who stick to a very specific way of eating could be significantly raising your risk of a killer disease, prompting concern from researchers.
The findings, presented at the most recent American Heart Association’s Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, demonstrated that partaking in an eight-hour time-restricted eating schedule had a 91 percent higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
And when compared to a standard schedule of 12 to 16 hours, sticking to this diet plan was not linked to living longer.
Time-restricted eating is a type of intermittent fasting, which involves limiting the hours for eating to a specific number of hours each day.
This can range from a four to 12-hour time window within 24 hours.
One popular time-restricted eating diet is the 16:8 eating schedule, where participants eat all their foods in an eight-hour window and fast for the remaining 16 hours each day.
It was this schedule that was found to be risky.
Senior study author Victor Wenze Zhong explained: “Restricting daily eating time to a short period, such as eight hours per day, has gained popularity in recent years as a way to lose weight and improve heart health.
“However, the long-term health effects of time-restricted eating, including risk of death from any cause or cardiovascular disease, are unknown.”
As part of the study, researchers analysed information about dietary patterns for more than 20,000 participants in the annual 2003-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES).
They cross-referenced this with data about people who died in the US, from 2003 through December 2019, using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Death Index database.
As well as the greater risk of dying from cardiovascular disease among those who ate within an eight-hour window there were other findings.
Among people with existing cardiovascular disease, an eating duration of no less than eight but less than 10 hours per day was also associated with a six percent higher risk of death from heart disease or stroke.
Time-restricted eating did not reduce the overall risk of death from any cause.
An eating duration of more than 16 hours per day was associated with a lower risk of cancer mortality among people with cancer.
Zhong said: “We were surprised to find that people who followed an eight-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 to 16 hours per day, a shorter eating duration was not associated with living longer.”
However, he added: “Our study’s findings encourage a more cautious, personalised approach to dietary recommendations, ensuring that they are aligned with an individual’s health status and the latest scientific evidence.
“Although the study identified an association between an eight-hour eating window and cardiovascular death, this does not mean that time-restricted eating caused cardiovascular death.”