Study: Combine intermittent fasting with high-intensity exercise to boost health – UPI.com

The findings of the study, conducted at the University of Sfax in Tunisia, were published Wednesday in PLOS ONE.

“Obesity is a critical clinical and public health problem, as it is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, cancer, oxidative stress, and osteoarthritis,” the study authors wrote.

Dietary changes and exercise are established approaches to weight loss and improved cardiometabolic health. However, finding the right combination of lifestyle modifications that achieve sustainable results can be difficult, the researchers noted.

Previous studies indicate that time-restricted eating, which limits when, but not what, people eat, and high-intensity functional training, which incorporates intense aerobic and resistance exercise, can benefit people and facilitate commitment to a long-term regime. .

“We can highlight in this study that time-restricted eating is a good solution to combat obesity, easy to implement, as it does not require people to limit their total food intake or count the total number of daily calories” , explained the corresponding author of the study. Rami Maaloul said in an interview published by PLOS One.

“Also, sport plays a fundamental role in preventing weight gain,” said Maaloul, a researcher in exercise physiology and biochemistry at the University of Sfax in Tunisia.

He noted that with high-intensity functional training, people can “have fun while doing exercises and quick workouts in the gym. It’s a serious sport that’s flexible and can adapt to individual levels and abilities to help people to improve their health and lose them.” weight”.

Maaloul added that “if you combine exercise with diet, you will lose more weight than if you just diet alone. Therefore, for optimal benefits, you should incorporate both time-restricted eating and high-intensity functional training”.

For people who don’t know how to exercise and are interested in high-intensity functional training, Maaloul, Ph.D. in exercise and sport science, recommends finding a qualified trainer and gradually building up to little

He also advises getting a physical exam before starting a new exercise plan.

In this study, Maaloul and colleagues assigned 64 obese women to one of three groups: time-restricted eating (diet only), high-intensity functional training (exercise only), or time-restricted eating plus high intensity functional training (diet). and exercise).

Participants adhering to the time-restricted eating regimen only ate between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Those in the functional training groups exercised three days per week with an instructor.

After 12 weeks, all three groups had substantial weight loss and reductions in waist and hip circumference, as well as positive changes in lipid and glucose levels.

However, there were some differences between groups. For example, fat-free mass, a combination of lean mass and skeletal muscle mass, and blood pressure improved in the diet and exercise and exercise groups, but remained the same in the diet-only group.

Participants in the diet and exercise group generally experienced more profound changes in body composition and cardiometabolic parameters than diet or exercise alone.

The researchers noted that this was a relatively small study and it is difficult to tease out the contributions of specific exercise routines or time-restricted eating and calorie reduction, as both groups reduced their calorie intake. .

However, they said that combining time-restricted eating with high-intensity functional training may hold promise as a strategy for improving body composition and cardiometabolic health.

“Disciplined eating and exercise habits work synergistically to improve health status,” said Dr. Nauman Mushtaq, medical director of cardiology at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Illinois. He did not participate in the study.

“It’s hard to make specific recommendations based on just one small study, but it does confirm the value of the ‘walk more, eat less’ advice,” Mushtaq said.

However, the researchers showed that people who exercised and dieted were able to maintain more muscle mass and lose more fat, said Dr. Hans Schmidt, chief of bariatric surgery and director of the Center for Weight Loss and Metabolic Health at Hackensack University Medical Center. Hackensack, NJ

“This is significant because it reinforces that this combination provides the stimulus and building blocks needed for muscle growth and repair, resulting in a stronger, more toned physique than, say, dieting alone,” Schmidt said.

The combination also improves overall health by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels. As a result, it reduces the risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, he said.

To stick with intermittent fasting, Schmidt recommends starting with a shorter time window, such as 12 hours, and gradually increasing it. When it comes to exercise, he suggests a timed program and a support group to help with motivation.

Finding a mobile app with enjoyable high-intensity exercise classes is another option, while maintaining a healthy diet, said Dana Ellis Hunnes, a senior clinical dietitian at UCLA Health in Los Angeles.

She said the study’s findings seem obvious from her 20 years of experience as a clinical dietitian and exercise enthusiast who taught a cycling class.

Meanwhile, they also strengthen the case for combining physical activity, especially high-intensity functional training, with dietary interventions that may include time-restricted eating.

“I found this study very compelling and promising,” said Hunnes, who has a doctorate in community health sciences and is also an assistant professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. “I would love to see this replicated in a larger study population.”