Time-Restricted Eating Combined with Exercise Reduces Menopausal Symptoms and Improves Quality of Life More than Exercise Alone in Menopausal Women: A Quasi-Randomized Controlled Trial

<b>Background</b>: Menopause is often accompanied by menopausal symptoms and reduced quality of life. Studies on the combined effects of time-restricted eating and exercise in this population are lacking. This approach may provide additive preventive benefits by aligning nutritional timing with exercise to improve health and well-being in menopausal women. We aimed to assess whether a combined intervention is more effective than exercise alone in reducing menopausal symptoms and improving quality of life. <b>Methods</b>: This study examined the effects of a time-restricted eating protocol (16:8) combined with a resistance and endurance circuit training program in menopausal women. Symptoms were assessed using the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), and quality of life was evaluated with the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL). Participants (<i>n</i> = 54) were quasi-randomly assigned to a combination group (exercise + time-restricted eating; <i>n</i> = 24) or an exercise group (exercise only; <i>n</i> = 30), with allocation influenced by participant preference. <b>Results</b>: The reduction in the total MRS score, as well as in the psychological and somatic MRS subdomains, was significantly greater in the combination group than in the exercise group (<i>p</i> = 0.008, <i>p</i> = 0.009, <i>p</i> = 0.007, respectively). No significant difference was observed in the urogenital domain. For MENQOL, post-intervention scores in the physical and psychosocial subdomains were significantly lower in the combination group compared with the exercise group (<i>p</i> = 0.013, <i>p</i> = 0.002, respectively), while no significant differences were found in the vasomotor and sexual subdomains. <b>Conclusions</b>: These findings suggest that integrating time-restricted eating with exercise results in greater alleviation of menopausal symptoms and improvements in quality of life compared to exercise alone in menopausal women.