Intermittent fasting could 'increase risk of heart disease', study says (2024)
A new study has found that people who eat all their meals in an eight-hour window are more likely to die of heart disease, compared to those who eat across a longer period of time
The latest dieting fad of fasting intermittently might be harmful to your heart, warns a shocking new study. Fasting intermittently is when people only eat during certain times of the day and it has become increasingly popular recently, with wellness enthusiasts and celebrities praising its weight loss and health benefits.
However, a new study says we should tread lightly, discovering that some intermittent fasters were more prone to dying from heart disease, according to the findings presented at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago. These focused on a common version of intermittent fasting where people consumed their daily meals within an eight-hour window, leaving them fasting for at least 16 hours, often referred to as "time-restricted" eating.
This fresh research scrutinised the dietary habits of 20,000 adults throughout America, tracking them from 2003 to 2018. And the results were concerning. Those sticking to the eight-hour eating regimen faced a 91 percent greater risk of succumbing to heart disease than those who spread their food consumption across 12 to 16 hours each day. Not surprisingly, this increased risk also reached out to those already suffering from a severe illness or cancer.
If you have heart issues already, following an eating pattern constrained to time represents a 66 percent higher risk of passing away due to heart disease or having a stroke. And for those battling cancer, you're in a worse position if you're on a time-restricted diet compared to those cancer patients who stick to an eating duration of at least 16 hours a day.
The lead author of the study, Victor Wenze Zhong, who is also the chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China, has warned that people who do intermittent fasting for a long time should be "extremely cautious," especially if they have heart conditions or cancer. He stressed that it seems more important to focus on what people eat rather than when they eat.
Zhong explained that he and his team carried out this new study because they wanted to understand how eating within a limited time each day would affect serious health issues like heart disease and death. He admitted that their findings took them by surprise. He said: "We had expected that long-term adoption of eight-hour time-restricted eating would be associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular death and even all-cause death."
The study didn't reveal why eating within a certain time frame could be harmful to your health. However, it did show that people who ate only during an eight-hour window and fasted for 16 hours had less muscle mass than those who ate throughout the day. This matches up with another study that found that people on a time-restricted diet lost more muscle than those not fasting.
Keeping your muscles strong as you get older is really important as it helps protect you from falls and can improve your overall health. Research has shown that having low muscle mass can lead to a higher risk of dying, including from heart disease, said Zhong.
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But Zhong pointed out that these findings aren't set in stone. The study found a link between eating within a certain time frame and a higher risk of death, but it didn't prove one caused the other. For example, it's possible that people who only ate within an eight-hour window had other habits or risks that could explain their higher chance of dying from heart disease.
The scientists also mentioned that the study was based on what people said they ate, so it's possible they didn't always report their eating times accurately. One type of intermittent fasting involves alternating days of normal eating with days of fasting.
The 5:2 diet is an example of this, where you eat normally for five days and fast for two. However, time-restricted eating is often seen as the easiest form of intermittent fasting to stick to because it doesn't involve full-day fasts or extreme food restrictions. People following this diet can eat or drink whatever they like during an eight-hour window each day but must avoid eating at other times.
Early studies on time-restricted eating found that it helped prevent obesity and metabolic syndrome in mice. This was followed by small clinical trials in humans, which showed that time-restricted eating could help people lose weight and improve their blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels. However, these studies were short-term, usually lasting one to three months, and sometimes showed no benefit.
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The scientists found that people who followed a 16:8 diet, or ate only within an eight-hour window, had a 91% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared to people who ate across 12 or 16 hours.
Summary: A study of over 20,000 adults found that those who followed an 8-hour time-restricted eating schedule, a type of intermittent fasting, had a 91% higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
The Heart Foundation recommends: plenty of vegetables, fruits and wholegrains. a variety of healthy protein sources (especially fish and seafood), legumes (such as beans and lentils), nuts and seeds. Smaller amounts of eggs and lean poultry can also be included in a heart healthy diet.
Intermittent fasting may offer health benefits for some people. But it can also lead to greater hunger, headaches, fatigue, and mood issues. It could also cause malnutrition if you don't do it correctly. Intermittent fasting is several patterns of eating that include regular periods of fasting.
Should we be relooking at intermittent fasting as a good health practice considering it might affect our heart? A study last week showed that 20,000 adults, who had an eating window of only eight hours and fasted for the remaining 16, had a 91 per cent higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease in the long-term.
Limiting time spent eating to an 8-hour window or less each day—a type of so-called intermittent fasting—was linked with a 91% increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease compared with eating throughout a 12- to 16-hour period, according to preliminary observational data presented at an American Heart ...
“Smoking is one of the most harmful things people can do to themselves,” Dr. Maniar says. Blood flow drops, slashing oxygen that fuels the heart, which compensates by spiking blood pressure, heart rate and rhythm, and can lead to hardened and narrowed arteries and blood clots causing cardiovascular disease.
Triglycerides are a type of fat that can build up in arteries. Among foods that contribute to clogged arteries are: Butter, ghee, suet, lard, coconut oil, and palm oil4. Fatty cuts of red meat5.
Fish. Fatty or oily fish such as salmon and tuna are a great source of omega-3 fats, compounds which have been shown in studies to reduce the amount of plaque which sticks in your arteries. ...
These include thinning or grey hair, wrinkles, ear lobe crease, xanthelasmata (small, yellow deposits of cholesterol underneath the skin, usually around the eyelids) and arcus corneae (fat and cholesterol deposits that appear as a hazy white, grey or blue opaque ring in the outer edges of the cornea).
breathlessness after activity or at rest. feeling tired most of the time and finding exercise exhausting. feeling lightheaded or fainting. swollen ankles and legs.
Chest pain, chest tightness, chest pressure and chest discomfort (angina) Shortness of breath. Pain in the neck, jaw, throat, upper belly area or back. Pain, numbness, weakness or coldness in the legs or arms if the blood vessels in those body areas are narrowed.
Intermittent fasting is safe for many people, but it's not for everyone. Skipping meals may not be the best way to manage your weight if you're pregnant or breast-feeding. If you have kidney stones, gastroesophageal reflux, diabetes or other medical problems, talk with your doctor before starting intermittent fasting.
It boils down to who is choosing this dietary pattern and to what extent they are restricting food intake. To be clear, intermittent fasting is inappropriate for people who are on medications, which impact metabolism, including those for diabetes and also medications that should be taken with food.
Better cholesterol and blood sugar levels can lower the risk of weight gain and diabetes — two risk factors for heart disease. But other studies have suggested that skipping breakfast — a form of intermittent fasting — can increase the risk of heart disease.
The researchers said they found that the participants who practiced 16:8 intermittent fasting were 91% more likely to have died from cardiovascular disease than those who didn't practice this type of fasting.
During periods of prolonged fasting, calories from the previous meal are exhausted, forcing the body to start burning body fat. Now, a recent study from the University of Utah's Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology hints that intermittent fasting may also help you to live longer.
Intermittent fasting and calorie reduction are both methods that have been shown to activate autophagy, stimulate DNA repair, defend against oxidative stress, decrease chronic inflammation and ultimately increase lifespan. Reducing total calories is one of the few ways we know how to increase lifespan in all species.
New evidence from cardiac researchers demonstrates that routine periodic fasting is good for your health, and your heart. The study found that fasting not only lowers one's risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes, but also causes significant changes in a person's blood cholesterol levels.
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