Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2014 Dec;22(12):2524-31.
doi: 10.1002/oby.20909. Epub 2014 Sep 24.

Meal timing during alternate day fasting: Impact on body weight and cardiovascular disease risk in obese adults

Kristin K Hoddy  1 , Cynthia M Kroeger, John F Trepanowski, Adrienne Barnosky, Surabhi Bhutani, Krista A Varady
Affiliations
Free article
Randomized Controlled Trial

Meal timing during alternate day fasting: Impact on body weight and cardiovascular disease risk in obese adults

Kristin K Hoddy et al. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2014 Dec.
Free article

Erratum in

  • Obesity (Silver Spring). 2015 Apr;23(4):914

Abstract

Objective: Alternate day fasting (ADF; 24-h feeding/24-h 25% energy intake at lunchtime), is effective for weight loss, but diet tolerability is questionable. Moving the fast day meal to dinnertime, or dividing it into smaller meals, may improve tolerability. Accordingly, this study compared the effects of ADF with three meal times on body weight and heart disease risk.

Methods: Obese subjects (n = 74) were randomized to 1 of 3 groups for 8 weeks: 1) ADF-L: lunch, 2) ADF-D: dinner, or 3) ADF-SM: small meals.

Results: Body weight decreased similarly (P < 0.001) in all groups (ADF-L: 3.5 ± 0.4 kg, ADF-D 4.1 ± 0.5 kg, ADF-SM 4.0 ± 0.5 kg). Reductions (P < 0.001) in fat mass and visceral fat were also comparable. Plasma lipids remained unchanged, and low density lipoprotein (LDL) particle size increased (P < 0.05) in all groups (1.3 ± 0.5 Å). Systolic blood pressure decreased (P < 0.05) by ADF-SM only. Fasting glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR remained unchanged.

Conclusions: Thus, allowing individuals to consume the fast day meal at dinner or small meals produces similar weight loss and cardio-protection as consuming the meal at lunch. This flexibility in meal timing may increase tolerability and long-term adherence to ADF protocols.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types