New study finds spreading out your eating could decrease risk of heart disease death

A new study has found that spreading your eating out over more hours of the day is linked to a lower risk of heart disease death.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and one simple change to your eating habits could lower your risk hugely.

Eating times and heart disease risk

The study, published by the American Heart Foundation on March 18, analysed 20,000 US adults and found that those who followed an 8-hour time-restricted eating schedule had a 91% higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease compared to people who ate across 12-16 hours per day.

This restricted diet is known as intermittent fasting or 16:8, which involves eating all of your meals during eight hours of the day and fasting for the remaining 16 hours. People usually choose to eat between 9am and 5pm, or 10am and 6pm.

Among people with existing cardiovascular disease, an eating duration of 8-10 hours per day was also associated with a 66% higher risk of death from heart disease or stroke. Plus, time-restricted eating did not reduce the overall risk of death from any cause.

The study, led by Dr Victor Zhong of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, also found that an eating duration of more than 16 hours per day was associated with a lower risk of cancer mortality among people with cancer.

“We were surprised to find that people who followed an 8-hour, time-restricted eating schedule were more likely to die from cardiovascular disease,” Zhong said.

“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.”

Intermittent fasting is a popular diet

Intermittent fasting has grown hugely in popularity over recent years due to its potential ability to help with weight loss, MedLine Plus explains.

“In studies, people were able to demonstrate some changes in terms of body weight following a time-restricted eating plan,” Charlotte Pratt, PhD, RD, of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, said.

Harvard Health reveals that the diet works in theory, as it allows the insulin levels in our fat cells to go down far enough and for long enough that we burn off fat. When insulin levels go down, the fat cells release their stored sugar to be used as energy.

However, more research needs to be done in humans, and the timing of your meals should not be the only factor in trying to lose weight or become healthier. What and how much you eat are also hugely important.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that all US adults should eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and do at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week.