Individuals who limit their daily food consumption to under eight hours experience a 135 per cent increased likelihood of cardiovascular-related death, new findings have warned.
The comprehensive research examined health outcomes for over 19,000 American adults across an eight-year period, showing that those who restricted their eating to narrow time frames showed significantly elevated risks of fatal heart and blood vessel complications compared to those who distributed their meals across 12 to 14 hours daily.
This substantial cardiovascular mortality risk remained consistent across various demographic categories.
Intermittent fasting involves condensing all daily food intake into a restricted timeframe, typically spanning eight hours, followed by a 16-hour fasting period.
The study drew on data from more than 19,000 Americans
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Alternative approaches, such as the 5:2 diet, focus on reducing caloric intake on specific days rather than limiting eating hours.
The eating pattern has been shown across several studies to assist in weight loss efforts and help the body initiate repair processes, remove damaged cells and waste, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
For their latest research, the team analysed health data from more than 19,000 American participants spanning eight years.
Scientists examined dietary patterns through food and beverage recall surveys conducted on two occasions, approximately two weeks apart.
These dietary assessments allowed researchers to calculate each participant's typical eating timeframe, which they used to represent long-term dietary habits.
Researchers established participants' eating patterns by analysing their dietary recollections, then compared mortality outcomes between those maintaining compressed eating schedules and those spreading consumption throughout longer periods.
This revealed that connections between time-restricted eating and deaths from all causes remained tenuous and variable. However, the heightened danger of cardiovascular fatality proved remarkably persistent.
Scientists noted that their findings demonstrate correlation rather than causation. Nevertheless, the pronounced cardiovascular mortality increase presents a significant challenge to prevailing assumptions about fasting's health benefits.
The elevated risk persisted after researchers accounted for nutritional quality, eating frequency, and various lifestyle elements.
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The cardiovascular mortality risk proved particularly severe among specific populations, including tobacco users, diabetics, and individuals with pre-existing cardiac conditions, indicating these groups should exercise particular caution regarding extended fasting periods.
The risk elevation remained constant across different socioeconomic backgrounds.
The investigation's principal researcher and epidemiologist at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China, Victor Wenze Zhong, commented on the findings: "The unexpected finding is that sticking to a short eating window less than eight hours over the years was linked to increased death risk from cardiovascular disease."
He noted that while dietary factors significantly influence diabetes and cardiac disease, making some cardiovascular mortality associations predictable, the magnitude of risk associated with prolonged adherence to compressed eating windows proved surprising.