MONDAY, June 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Time-restricted eating (TRE) is more effective for weight loss than control, but is no more effective than calorie restriction (CR), according to a study published online June 27 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Shuhao Lin, a registered dietician from the University of Illinois Chicago, and colleagues conducted a 12-month randomized controlled trial involving 90 adults with obesity who were randomly assigned to eight-hour TRE (eating between noon and 8.00 p.m. only, without calorie counting), CR (25 percent energy restriction daily), or control (eating over a period of 10 or more hours per day). The study was completed by 77 adults (mean age, 40 years; 33 percent Black and 46 percent Hispanic).

The researchers found that the mean reduction in energy intake was −425 and −405 kcal/day for TRE and CR, respectively. Compared with the control group, weight loss by month 12 was −4.61 and −5.42 kg for the TRE and CR groups, respectively, with no statistically significant differences observed between the groups.

“Patient preference and other individual-specific considerations regarding ease of implementation can guide clinical choice of dietary weight loss intervention,” write the authors of an accompanying editorial. “Further research is needed to understand who may do better with TRE versus CR.”