Heart disease could be reduced by a time-restricted diet

A new study, published in the journal Science, has suggested that eating at specific times in the day could have a beneficial effect on the risk of developing heart disease, which is a common complication for people with diabetes.
Conducted at San Diego State University, scientists examined fruit flies which were placed on time-restricted feeding plans. They found that after studying the fruit flies’ genes, three genetic pathways had been altered, which they believe were the reasons that they had a reduced risk of heart disease.
When compared to other fruit flies, which had not had their genetic pathways altered, the researchers found that those with unaffected pathways did not have a reduced risk of heart disease.
Although the results of the study are positive, it should be stressed that as this diet was only tested with fruit flies, not humans, the results are not conclusive. A biologist at the university, Girish Melkani, said that they were not entirely sure on the explanation behind the pathways changing. However, she did believe that there could be health benefits for humans following this diet.
“Time-restricted feeding would not require people to drastically change their lifestyles, just the times of the day they eat. The take-home message then would be to cut down on the late-night snacks.”