16:8 Intermittent Fasting Linked to Increased Risk of Death from Cardiovascular Disease

• Study finds eating eight hours a day is not associated with life expectancy

Eating within a maximum of eight hours a day, which is the most popular type of intermittent fasting, is associated with a 91% higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease compared to those who eat within a daily interval of 12 to 16 hours.

That’s the main finding of a study conducted on more than 20,000 adults in the United States with an average age of 49 and presented this Monday in Chicago, coinciding with the first day of the American Heart Association’s “Scientific Lifestyle Sessions.”

Time-restricted eating is a type of intermittent fasting that involves limiting your eating time to a certain number of hours each day, which can range from 4 to 12 hours throughout the day.

The most famous type of intermittent fasting is 16:8 (that is, fasting for 16 hours, including sleep time, and a maximum of eight hours per day.

Previous studies have shown that time-restricted eating improves several indicators of cardiometabolic health, such as blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels.

“Limiting daily eating time to a short period of time, such as eight hours a day, has gained popularity in recent years as a way to lose weight and improve heart health,” says Victor Wenze Zhong of Shanghai Jiao Tong University College of Medicine. (China) and lead author of the study.

Zhong adds: “However, the long-term effects of time-restricted feeding, including the risk of death from any cause or cardiovascular disease, are unknown.”

ANNUAL MONITORING

The study authors analyzed dietary information from participants in the annual US Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys between 2003 and 2018 and compared it with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on people who died in the US since 2003. until 2019.

The participants, approximately half male and half female, were followed for an average of eight years, with a maximum duration of 17 years.

The main finding is that people who followed the time-restricted 16:8 diet had a 91% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than those who ate 12 to 16 hours a day.

This increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease has also been observed in people with cancer or cardiovascular disease.

Additionally, limiting food intake to eight hours per day was not associated with increased longevity compared with those eating between 12 and 16 hours per day.

WORSE IN THE LONG TERM

Among people with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, eating less than 10 hours a day was associated with a 66% increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease or stroke.

And eating more than 16 hours a day was associated with a lower risk of cancer mortality among people with the disease.

“We were surprised to find that people who followed an eight-hour eating schedule and a restricted eating schedule were more likely to die from cardiovascular disease,” says Zhong.

This researcher adds: “Although this type of diet has been popular for its potential short-term benefits, our study clearly shows that compared to the typical eating time window of 12–16 hours per day, shorter meal duration was not associated with a longer life.”

“It is very important that patients, especially those with cardiovascular disease or cancer, are aware of the connection between an eight-hour feeding period and an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease,” he emphasizes.

However, Zhong notes, “Although the study found an association between an eight-hour eating period and cardiovascular death, this does not mean that time-restricted eating causes cardiovascular death.”

“Overall, this study shows that time-restricted eating may have short-term benefits, but also long-term adverse effects,” says Christopher D. Gardner, professor at Stanford University (USA).

(SERVIMEDIA)

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