Both the 10-h time restricted eating (TRE) and the 16-h usual eating pattern (UEP) result in improved eating behaviour in adults with obesity and prediabetes in the context of modest and equivalent weight loss, according to a study.
“[W]e found improvements in eating behaviours in both groups, including increased dietary restraint and decreased disinhibition and hunger scores,” the researchers said.
Thirty-nine participants completed the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (Restraint, Disinhibition, Hunger) and provided fasting blood samples for leptin, adiponectin, C-reactive protein, cortisol, and soluble receptors of advanced glycation end products at pre- and postintervention.
The researchers measured ghrelin during a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test and used Wilcoxon signed rank and Mann‒Whitney U tests for within- and between-group differences.
Of the participants (mean age 60 years, mean BMI 35.2 kg/m2), 19 underwent TRE and 20 UEP. Weight loss did not significantly differ between the two groups (2.7 percent vs 2.5 percent). [Obesity 2026;34:1732-1741]
Both interventions also resulted in increased restraint and reduced disinhibition and hunger. No statistically significant differences were noted in eating behaviour, appetite hormones, and inflammatory markers between the TRE and UEP groups. However, due to the small sample size and post hoc design, clinically meaningful differences could not be ignored.
“Our findings suggest that TRE may offer a pragmatic approach for dietary intervention, although its unique advantages over conventional eating patterns in terms of appetite regulation and inflammatory responses may be limited, particularly in populations [with] modest weight loss,” the researchers said.
“Importantly, the considerable interindividual variability in how TRE affected eating behaviours underscores the importance of identifying potential predictors of favourable response, which could inform individualized medicine approaches,” they added.
Literature
Compared with previous studies assessing TRE against other weight-loss interventions, the improvements in eating behaviours seen in the present study are either similar or more pronounced.
For instance, a study by Thomas and colleagues reported increased dietary restraint by 4‒5 points for both 10-h TRE plus caloric restriction and caloric restriction alone in adults with overweight or obesity. However, neither intervention induced significant changes in disinhibition or hunger scores after 12 and 39 weeks. [Obesity (Silver Spring) 2022;30:1027-1038]
Furthermore, the 2.6-point improvement in disinhibition score noted in the current study is consistent with the changes reported 1 year after bariatric surgery and after 6 weeks of treatment with liraglutide in earlier studies. [Nutrients 2021;13:3943; Nature Med 2025;31:3141-3150]
“Moreover, while TRE did not yield statistically more favourable changes in eating behaviours compared to UEP, the waterfall plot reveals greater interindividual variability in change, most notably in disinhibition, potentially reflecting phenotypic differences in eating response to TRE that require further study,” the researchers said.
“Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings and to better characterize who is most likely to benefit from TRE. A key area for future research will be examining the role of TRE in weight loss maintenance after initial successful weight reduction, such as after or as an adjunct to effective pharmacotherapy,” they said.