Time-Restricted Feeding and How it Works

Time-restricted feeding (TRF), also known as intermittent fasting (IF), is one popular dietary trend that is not only proving beneficial in the weight loss department, but it’s also showing itself to be good for your health.

What is Time-Restricted Feeding?

Time-restricted feeding is the window of time throughout the day in which you allow yourself to eat. The most popular feeding schedule is 16:8–an eight-hour window of eating followed by a sixteen-hour window of fasting. Essentially, you are cutting out one meal a day, which tends to be breakfast for most people. The next most popular would be 14:10, which also yields beneficial results, and the schedule continues from there, all the way up to fasting for a twenty-four-hour time period once or twice a week.

When you eat, insulin rises. It takes the glucose out of the sugar and carbs from the food you ingest and either stores it away for later or uses it right away for energy. When you go without food for a prolonged length of time, the body starts to use fat as its energy source and the body enters a fasting state.1

TRF, therefore, can be beneficial if you are someone who is looking to lose weight and build muscle.

Does TRF work?

In one study, 34 athletic males underwent TRF on a 16:8 schedule for eight weeks. The men, who also participated in resistance training during the eight-week experiment, saw a decrease in body fat2, proving that, when paired with exercise, TRF can yield results.

TRF can also yield results for those on a ketogenic diet. Like TRF, the keto diet is dependent upon the body using stored glucose for energy. When eliminating carbs from your diet, as the keto diet does, you’re essentially removing glucose and the body looks for fat-stored energy to process. At that point, the body enters ketosis, and ketones produced in the liver begin to breakdown fats stored there.

Combining TRF and keto, meaning eating all the foods you can eat on a ketogenic diet for a specific window of time throughout each day, can help you shed excess body fat, increase lean muscle mass, and improve overall health.