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Isn’t it just as likely that the 8% reduction in calories gave all the benefits? I briefly read the study and it didn’t seem like they had a reduced calorie gro

Isn’t it just as likely that the 8% reduction in calories gave all the benefits? I briefly read the study and it didn’t seem like they had a reduced calorie group without time restrictions. Thoughts anyone?

biggerfisch 7y ago
If this strategy works to encourage people to accidentally consume fewer calories, isn't that good enough? I don't think this was about the mechanism about the weight loss, but merely that the behavior pattern ended up encouraging it.
- xphilter 7y ago
  Maybe, but my feeling is that they are trying to attribute the benefit to intermittent fasting (which may be the mechanism! I have no ideas (and neither do they!))
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
  > If this strategy works to encourage people to accidentally consume fewer calories, isn't that good enough? Depends. I'm sure for some people it does work. I don't understand those people, because I, like many people who put on a whole lot of weight, am a food addict. Give me only an hour in which to eat, with no other restrictions, and I will find a way to shove as much food into my maw as I can. I know this from experience. It makes much more sense to just track calories directly and stop lying to yourself.
  - notacoward 7y ago
    "lying to yourself" seems unduly insulting. Maybe other people are tracking calories, and TRF is how they stay within a budget. Even if they are tricking themselves, what's wrong with that? We all hack our own reward-response mechanisms all the time to achieve all sorts of goals. If it works, it works, and what's the harm? Why condemn that as less "honest" than whatever you do to work around your own limitations and achieve your own goals? Making people feel bad about the methods they choose is real-world harmful. Maybe "advice" like yours won't actually kill anyone, but people who become discouraged by that drumbeat of negativity could experience some ill effects. Be glad that what works for you works for you, but please stop pissing on everyone else.
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
      If you count calories, then any additional strategies are fine, but I know from experience that not counting calories and relying on other strategies as an abstraction leaves too much room for self delusion about your intake.
sharedfrog 7y ago
If they measured only weight loss, then yes, it's due to the reduction. But it's important to note that the reduction wasn't forced on them -- it arose "naturally", meaning intermittent might be an efficient strategy to lose weight (e.g. the person wouldn't have the burden of tracking calories). That's regarding weight loss alone. Various health and cognitive benefits are usually talked about in the context of intermittent fasting, and that seems to arise from being fasted rather than from being in a deficit.
- vorpalhex 7y ago
  We have to be careful. > the person wouldn't have the burden of tracking calories Reducing the window of time in which you can eat is effective at cutting calories but it isn't a panacea and it's important the cause for the effect is communicated. Otherwise we'll get the "no, I can eat 3 servings of cake with dinner, it's before 8pm".
  - sharedfrog 7y ago
    Absolutely. If we simply said "eat in this period and you'll lose weight!" you'd find someone gorging themselves into an excess of calories.
trentnix 7y ago
I’m of the opinion the calorie reduction is the primary catalyst for health improvements. Over and over our assumptions about nutritional timing have been wrong, eg breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day, don’t eat after 8pm, etc. The body adapts to whatever circumstance it encounters and if that circumstance repeats itself, it adapts extremely well. But so much of eating for those (like me) who are subject to binge eating and being overweight, the time restriction brings about a means of control that can help replace the compulsion that contributes to overeating. And that time control brings other positive side effects such as calorie reduction, a smaller window to exercise control over food quality, and education on food discipline. I’m not an expert, but I think intermittent fasting generally falls into the same category as going vegetarian or going carnivore or avoiding gluten: the result is almost always a healthier overall diet and more manageable calorie load than what the person was eating before. But the gimmick, which is mostly just a means of control and introduces discipline, takes most of the credit.
- criddell 7y ago
  I think you've nailed it in your last paragraph. If you are thinking about what and when you eat, you are probably thinking more about your diet than you previously did. A lot of people experience similar changes when they write down everything they eat in a food journal. They aren't necessarily changing the types of food they eat, but thinking about it more decreases mindless eating.
drabiega 7y ago
I have not read the study, but when I heard this on the radio the researcher specifically said that the weight loss was because of the reduction in calories. The part that is interesting is that by instructing people to have their last meal earlier they naturally reduced their caloric intake without being instructed to do so.

biggerfisch 7y ago

If this strategy works to encourage people to accidentally consume fewer calories, isn't that good enough? I don't think this was about the mechanism about the weight loss, but merely that the behavior pattern ended up encouraging it.

xphilter 7y ago
Maybe, but my feeling is that they are trying to attribute the benefit to intermittent fasting (which may be the mechanism! I have no ideas (and neither do they!))
AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
> If this strategy works to encourage people to accidentally consume fewer calories, isn't that good enough? Depends. I'm sure for some people it does work. I don't understand those people, because I, like many people who put on a whole lot of weight, am a food addict. Give me only an hour in which to eat, with no other restrictions, and I will find a way to shove as much food into my maw as I can. I know this from experience. It makes much more sense to just track calories directly and stop lying to yourself.
- notacoward 7y ago
  "lying to yourself" seems unduly insulting. Maybe other people are tracking calories, and TRF is how they stay within a budget. Even if they are tricking themselves, what's wrong with that? We all hack our own reward-response mechanisms all the time to achieve all sorts of goals. If it works, it works, and what's the harm? Why condemn that as less "honest" than whatever you do to work around your own limitations and achieve your own goals? Making people feel bad about the methods they choose is real-world harmful. Maybe "advice" like yours won't actually kill anyone, but people who become discouraged by that drumbeat of negativity could experience some ill effects. Be glad that what works for you works for you, but please stop pissing on everyone else.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
    If you count calories, then any additional strategies are fine, but I know from experience that not counting calories and relying on other strategies as an abstraction leaves too much room for self delusion about your intake.

sharedfrog 7y ago

If they measured only weight loss, then yes, it's due to the reduction. But it's important to note that the reduction wasn't forced on them -- it arose "naturally", meaning intermittent might be an efficient strategy to lose weight (e.g. the person wouldn't have the burden of tracking calories). That's regarding weight loss alone. Various health and cognitive benefits are usually talked about in the context of intermittent fasting, and that seems to arise from being fasted rather than from being in a deficit.

vorpalhex 7y ago
We have to be careful. > the person wouldn't have the burden of tracking calories Reducing the window of time in which you can eat is effective at cutting calories but it isn't a panacea and it's important the cause for the effect is communicated. Otherwise we'll get the "no, I can eat 3 servings of cake with dinner, it's before 8pm".
- sharedfrog 7y ago
  Absolutely. If we simply said "eat in this period and you'll lose weight!" you'd find someone gorging themselves into an excess of calories.

trentnix 7y ago

I’m of the opinion the calorie reduction is the primary catalyst for health improvements. Over and over our assumptions about nutritional timing have been wrong, eg breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day, don’t eat after 8pm, etc. The body adapts to whatever circumstance it encounters and if that circumstance repeats itself, it adapts extremely well. But so much of eating for those (like me) who are subject to binge eating and being overweight, the time restriction brings about a means of control that can help replace the compulsion that contributes to overeating. And that time control brings other positive side effects such as calorie reduction, a smaller window to exercise control over food quality, and education on food discipline. I’m not an expert, but I think intermittent fasting generally falls into the same category as going vegetarian or going carnivore or avoiding gluten: the result is almost always a healthier overall diet and more manageable calorie load than what the person was eating before. But the gimmick, which is mostly just a means of control and introduces discipline, takes most of the credit.

criddell 7y ago
I think you've nailed it in your last paragraph. If you are thinking about what and when you eat, you are probably thinking more about your diet than you previously did. A lot of people experience similar changes when they write down everything they eat in a food journal. They aren't necessarily changing the types of food they eat, but thinking about it more decreases mindless eating.

drabiega 7y ago

I have not read the study, but when I heard this on the radio the researcher specifically said that the weight loss was because of the reduction in calories. The part that is interesting is that by instructing people to have their last meal earlier they naturally reduced their caloric intake without being instructed to do so.