Time-restricted Eating May Reduce Inflammation
Chronic inflammation can contribute to arthritis and other conditions. A 2024 systematic review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition searched the medical literature and synthesized the effects of time-restricted eating on markers of inflammation, including cytokine and adipokines (C-reactive protein, TNF-alpha, interleukin-6, leptin and adiponectin) in adults. Time-restricted eating limits food consumption to one time window per day, often around eight hours long (see page 6) with fasting between dinner and breakfast. The analysis included 936 adults across 25 studies comparing time-restricted eating to a control group. The mean length of the intervention was eight weeks. The researchers found statistically significant reductions in TNF-alpha and leptin for groups doing time-restricted eating compared to usual eating.
