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A groundbreaking study has revealed that intermittent fasting is an effective strategy for both weight loss and improved cardiovascular health in individuals with obesity. The research, published in Nature Medicine, demonstrates that reducing eating windows and extending fasting periods can lead to significant health benefits.
The study, led by researchers in Spain, particularly highlights the impact of early fasting, where participants consumed their last meal before 5 p.m. and refrained from eating dinner. This fasting method was found to be a safe and efficient approach for reducing abdominal subcutaneous fat, particularly after periods of overindulgence, such as during the holiday season.
In Spain, obesity rates have reached alarming levels, affecting 70% of men and 50% of women, contributing to numerous health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. This rising prevalence poses a significant challenge for public health systems.
While calorie restriction diets have long been considered a solution to weight loss and cardiovascular health, they often prove difficult to maintain over time, leading to people regaining weight or gaining more. As a result, alternative strategies like intermittent fasting have gained attention.
Intermittent fasting involves alternating between periods of eating and fasting, and one popular variation is time-restricted eating, where the eating window is reduced to 6–8 hours, and fasting lasts 16–18 hours daily. This approach helps regulate biological rhythms and avoid the negative health effects of eating irregularly or at night, which have been linked to obesity, cardiovascular issues, and type 2 diabetes.
The study followed a 12-week intervention with 197 participants, aged 30-60, from southern and northern Spain. The participants were randomly assigned to four groups: usual treatment (49 participants), early fasting (49 participants), late fasting (52 participants), and self-selected fasting (47 participants). All participants received standard nutrition education focusing on the Mediterranean diet and healthy lifestyles.
Findings revealed that while intermittent fasting did not show additional benefits in reducing visceral fat, participants in the fasting groups—regardless of the timing of their eating windows—lost an average of 3–4 kg compared to those following the usual treatment. Notably, the early fasting group achieved the greatest reduction in abdominal subcutaneous fat.
The researchers also monitored glucose levels throughout the study using continuous glucose monitors. The early fasting group showed a significant improvement in fasting glucose and overnight glucose levels, suggesting that this approach may optimize glucose regulation and reduce the risk of diabetes and metabolic disorders.
Dr. Idoia Labayen, the principal investigator of the study, emphasized that early fasting could be particularly beneficial for metabolic health, providing the body more time to process nutrients and better regulate blood glucose. This, in turn, could potentially prevent the onset of diabetes and other metabolic issues.
All fasting groups demonstrated high adherence rates and no serious adverse events were reported, underscoring the safety and promise of intermittent fasting as a strategy for weight management and improving heart health in overweight and obese individuals.
The research provides crucial insights that could help refine nutritional interventions for managing obesity and related health conditions, potentially offering a sustainable, effective solution to combating the obesity crisis.
For more information, the study is available in Nature Medicine, with the citation: Manuel Dote-Montero et al, “Effects of early, late, and self-selected time-restricted eating on visceral adipose tissue and cardiometabolic health in participants with overweight or obesity: a randomized controlled trial,” Nature Medicine (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03375-y.
