A study published in the journal Cell Metabolism this past May, reported that researchers fed two sets of mice a high-fat diet, allowing one group to eat whenever they wanted – consuming roughly half their food during their waking hours in the evening, and the other half as “snacks” throughout the day, while the other group of mice were restricted to eight-hour eating periods each night, and 16-hour fasting periods through the day.  Two control groups ate a typical diet, comprised of only 13 percent calories from fat (as compared to 60 percent in the high-fat experimental groups.)

After 100 days, the mice that grazed on high-fat food throughout the day not only put on weight, they also developed high cholesterol, high blood sugar, poor motor control and liver damage.  Surprisingly, however, the mice that ate the same amount of high-fat food under time restrictions weighed a substantial 28 percent less – and showed one of the diet-related health declines of their continually snacking counterparts.

The time-restricted mice performed better on exercise tests than both the high-fat grazers and the mice on a normal diet, indicating that extended fasting periods don’t just counteract the devastating effecs of gut-busting dietary habits, they might actually play a critical role in keeping you fit, no matter how you eat.

This study should not be a pathway into a junk food free-for-all.  But the results do suggest that the numbers on the scale may have less to do with a person’s nutrition, and more to do with their body’s natural metabolic cycles and circadian rhythms than once thought.

The researchers found that constant eating leads to constant generation and storage of fat, putting stress on your liver and raising blood sugar.  Even a few hours of fasting, is enough to initiate fat-burning and cholesterol breakdown, while putting the brakes on glucose production and giving the body a chance to repair itself and generate new DNA. This alleviates disease-promoting inflammation for a leaner and longer life.  However, keep in mind this study was done on mice not humans, which should be the next step in the research evaluation process. However, we can each be a model to try this plan to see if it works for us as individuals. But make food choices wisely.