Time-Restricted Eating on Appetite and Inflammation in Adults With Obesity and Prediabetes: A Randomized Feeding Study.

Abstract

Time-restricted eating (TRE) has gained attention for weight loss and cardiometabolic health improvement. The Time-Restricted Intake of Meals (TRIM) study was a 12-week randomized isocaloric and eucaloric feeding trial comparing 10-h TRE to a 16-h usual eating pattern (UEP) in adults with obesity and either prediabetes or diet-controlled type 2 diabetes. This post hoc analysis investigates TRE's effects on eating behavior, appetite hormones, and inflammatory markers. Participants completed the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (Restraint, Disinhibition, Hunger) and provided fasting blood samples for leptin, adiponectin, CRP, cortisol, and sRAGE at pre- and post-intervention. Ghrelin was measured during a 75 g OGTT. Wilcoxon signed rank and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for within- and between-group differences. Thirty-nine participants (19 TRE; 20 UEP) were analyzed, with a mean (SD) age of 60 (7) years and BMI of 35.2 (6.0) kg/m². Weight loss was similar across groups (2.7% TRE; 2.5% UEP). Both arms increased restraint and decreased disinhibition and hunger. No statistically significant between-group differences were observed in eating behavior, appetite hormones, and inflammatory markers. Both 10-h TRE and 16-h UEP promoted improvements in eating behavior in the context of modest and equivalent weight loss. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm whether clinically meaningful differences exist. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03527368.