Four-week time restricted eating intervention is associated with improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors and dysregulated eating among emerging adult women: a single-armed trial

PURPOSE: Time restricted eating (TRE) improves cardiometabolic (CM) health. However, TRE's usefulness as a preventative intervention, particularly among women at risk for dysregulated eating is unknown. This single-arm study examined the impact of a 4-week TRE intervention on eating behaviors, body composition, and dietary intake in women at risk for dysregulated eating. METHODS: 36 emerging adult women with eating windows ≥ 12 h and moderate-high dietary restraint completed 1 baseline week and 4 weeks of TRE (10 h eating window ending by 8 pm). Participants completed the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire, 3-day food logs, anthropometric measurements, and DXA scans at baseline and post-intervention. Ecological momentary assessments (EMA) were administered 5x/day during baseline and weeks 1 and 4 of TRE to assess eating in the absence of hunger (EAH). RESULTS: Adherence with TRE and EMA was above 85%. Significant decreases occurred in emotional eating (p = 0.009, Cohen's d = - 0.470), caloric intake (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = - 0.750), body weight (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = - 0.649), and visceral fat (p = 0.026, Cohen's d = - 0.452) between baseline and end of TRE. The odds of EAH were significantly lower during TRE than baseline (week 1 OR: 0.48, 95% CI 0.32-0.71; week 4 OR: 0.46, 95% CI 0.29-0.71, both p < 0.001). Compared to baseline, EAH decreased during fasting and the first 4 h of the eating window (p = 0.002-0.033), but not later in the eating window (p = 0.579-0.763). CONCLUSIONS: A brief TRE intervention reduced emotional eating and visceral fat in emerging adult women. However, results are preliminary and caution is still warranted when implementing restrictive interventions in this population. CLINICALTRIALS: gov identifier: NCT06145009, submitted 10/17/2023. LEVEL III: Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case-control analytic studies.