Time-Restricted Eating + High-Intensity Training Aids Women With Obesity, Inactivity

TUESDAY, May 7, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Combining time-restricted eating (TRE) with high-intensity functional training (HIFT) may have superior effects on body composition, lipid profile, and glucose regulation among inactive women with obesity compared with diet or exercise interventions alone, according to a study published online May 1 in PLOS ONE.

Ranya Ameur, from University of Sfax in Tunisia, and colleagues examined the long-term effects of TRE, with or without HIFT, on body composition and cardiometabolic biomarkers in women with inactivity and obesity. The analysis included 64 participants randomly assigned to TRE (no more than an eight-hour daily eating window, with ad libitum energy intake), HIFT (three sessions/week), or TRE plus HIFT (TRE-HIFT) for 12 weeks.

The researchers found that TRE-HIFT showed a significantly greater decrease in waist and hip circumferences and fat mass versus TRE or HIFT. Additionally, weight and body mass index significantly decreased more in TRE-HIFT versus HIFT group. The TRE group had lower fat-free mass versus both the HIFT and TRE-HIFT groups. The TRE-HIFT group showed decreases in total cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance versus both the TRE and HIFT groups. Furthermore, glucose level was significantly decreased in the TRE-HIFT group versus the HIFT group. In both the TRE-HIFT and HIFT groups, systolic blood pressure was decreased significantly when compared with the TRE group.

"In inactive women with obesity, combining TRE with HIFT can be a good strategy to induce superior effects on body composition, lipid profile, and glucose regulation compared with either diet or exercise intervention alone," the authors write.

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