It Makes a Difference When You Eat, And For How Long

New research findings at the Salk Institute suggest that obesity and metabolic diseases can be avoided by restricting food consumption to a 10-hour window, like 8am to 6pm, and fasting the other 14 hours.

"For many of us, the day begins with a cup of coffee first thing in the morning and ends with a bedtime snack 14 or 15 hours later," says Satchidananda Panda, a professor in Salk's Regulatory Biology Laboratory. "But restricting food intake to 10 hours a day, and fasting the rest, can lead to better health, regardless of our biological clock."

The research, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, suggests that the health problems associated with disruptions to animals' 24-hour rhythms of activity and rest, which in humans is linked to eating for most of the day or doing shift work, can be corrected by eating all calories within a 10-hour window.

Eating all food within 10 hours can restore balance, stave off metabolic diseases and maintain health, according to the researchers, who plan to study whether eating within 8-10 hours can prevent or reverse many diseases of aging. They have an app available which allows people anywhere in the world to get guidance on how to adopt an optimum daily eating/fasting cycle. By collecting daily eating and health status data from thousands of people, they hope to gain a better understanding of how the cycle sustains health.

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