A new small-scale study has found that men at risk of developing type 2 diabetes could benefit from eating all their meals within a restricted 9-hour time frame. Doing so, even without changing other dietary habits, can help keep blood sugar levels under control, the research suggests.

Share on Pinterest Could glucose control relate more to when you eat than what you eat?

Many factors contribute to a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and some of these, particularly lifestyle and diet, are fully modifiable.

So far, researchers and other specialists have mostly focused on the impact of dietary choices, when it comes to preventing type 2 diabetes in people at risk.

Numerous studies have suggested that eating healthful foods can help people keep their weight in check, as well as avoid glucose intolerance, a characteristic of diabetes that is defined by the body’s inability to process blood glucose (sugar).

However, more recently, some investigations have uncovered evidence that in order to keep diabetes and other metabolic conditions at bay, it is important to control not just what and how much you eat, but also when you eat your daily meals.

Studies conducted in mice have shown that time-restricted eating can improve blood glucose levels, even when the animals have a diet that is high in fats.

This kind of diet involves eating all of a day’s meals within a restricted period of time, for instance, between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. every day.

A team of researchers from the University of Adelaide, in Australia, and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, in La Jolla, CA, was eager to try to replicate these findings of animal studies in humans.

Thus, associate professor Leonie Heilbronn, a research leader at the university’s department of medicine, and colleagues recently conducted a 1-week trial involving 15 men at risk of type 2 diabetes.