Participants were not asked to reduce calories, only to restrict the eating window for a period of three months.
"It was exciting to see that just the time restricted eating was able to reduce their risk for Type 2 diabetes by 60%," Manoogian says, because the reduction in blood sugar, if maintained, reduces the risk of the disease.
Research also suggests that eating your biggest meal of the day in the afternoon, as opposed to later in the evening can be beneficial for those who want to lose weight. A study from Spain found early eaters lost 25 percent more weight than late eaters. Panda says when his mother gave up a late night snack that included tea with sugar and milk and an occasional snack, that one change led to a significant drop in her blood sugar levels.
"Keeping the same sleep schedule is optimal," Manoogian says. The consistency gives your body a chance to anticipate and keep internal clocks synchronized. During sleep, waste is cleared out of our brains, and memories are consolidated, and there's a pile of evidence to show rest is critical for our health.
But don't beat yourself up when you have a late night out. And of course, there will be disruptions due to travel, work deadlines or weekend celebrations. "Going off your circadian system is not like breaking an arm," Manoogian says. Think of the harms of erratic schedules akin to the way dripping water can erode stone. "Little hits, time after time, can wear down the system," she says. And the result is you can feel slower and older.
There are lots of bedtime rituals to foster a good night's sleep, including limiting light before bed and sleeping in darkness. Zee's research shows even small amounts of light while sleeping can have adverse effects on cardiovascular and metabolic health.
Whether you're a morning lark or a night owl can influence the ideal time for you to exercise, so this will vary from person to person, Zee says. "The better time to exercise depends, in part, on what we call your chronotype," she says, which is a person's innate preference for timing of sleep or when they feel more alert and energetic. One way to estimate your tendency is with a Morningness-Eveningness questionnaire.
"If you're a morning person, then morning exercise can be beneficial," creating a consistent structure, Zee says, but people who grow more alert later in the day, may want to put it off until later. As people juggle competing obligations, exercise may be shoehorned into the time it fits on your calendar, even if it's not your body clock's preferred window. She says it's important to remember that exercise is beneficial, no matter what time you do it.
But keep this in mind: "Exercise is a stimulatory cue to tell your body you should be awake," Manoogian says, so it's not a surprise that recent research shows that exercise just before sleep can disrupt sleep quality .