Eating window (time-restricted eating)
hours / day
The hours of the day when calories come in, and where those hours sit on the clock. Time-restricted eating shortens that window.
A 6-hour dinner-by-3pm schedule and a noon-to-8pm 16:8 are both called time-restricted eating. The clock position is part of what was assigned. Hours asleep and a calorie target are different questions. Trials that hold calories fixed ask something else from trials that let intake fall when the kitchen closes.
Also called time-restricted eating, TRE, time-restricted feeding, eTRF, eating window.
Connected relationships
Randomized trial · Moderate
Eating window (time-restricted eating)→Insulin resistance (HOMA-IR)
Higher Eating window (time-restricted eating) moves Insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) only in some conditions. Read the mechanism.
In eight men with prediabetes, a supervised 6-hour early eating window improved insulin sensitivity without weight loss; later RCTs show the effect depends on clock time and calories.
Sources
- EF Sutton et al. (2019). Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes.
- Z Xie et al. (2022). Randomized controlled trial for time-restricted eating in healthy volunteers without obesity.
- DA Lowe et al. (2021). Effects of Time-Restricted Eating on Weight Loss and Other Metabolic Parameters in Women and Men With Overweight and Obesity: The TREAT Randomized Clinical Trial.
- D Liu et al. (2022). Calorie Restriction with or without Time-Restricted Eating in Weight Loss.
- NM Maruthur et al. (2024). Effect of Isocaloric, Time-Restricted Eating on Body Weight in Adults With Obesity : A Randomized Controlled Trial.
- ENC Manoogian et al. (2024). Time-Restricted Eating in Adults With Metabolic Syndrome : A Randomized Controlled Trial.
- KL Haganes et al. (2022). Time-restricted eating and exercise training improve HbA1c and body composition in women with overweight/obesity: A randomized controlled trial.
- MJ Wilkinson et al. (2021). Ten-Hour Time-Restricted Eating Reduces Weight, Blood Pressure, and Atherogenic Lipids in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome.