SAN DIEGO, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- New research suggests limiting the number of hours spent eating during a day can help eaters mitigate weight gain, regardless of the type of food being consumed. Whether as an accompaniment to or substitute for dieting, intermittent fasting can limit weight gain and spur weight loss.
Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego recently subjected hundreds of mice to a high-fat diet featuring food not ideal for shaving pounds. All the mice gained weight. But the mice that have unfettered access to the food gained significantly more weight than those mice that were weren't able to feed for 9 to 12 hours each day.
"What we're saying is that irrespective of what diet these mice had, as long as they were fasting for 12 hours or more, they were fine. So you actually don't need a diet," lead study author Satchidananda Panda, a researcher at the Salk Institute, told Healthline.
Fasting also triggers the formation of brown fat, which burns calories more efficiently than white fat -- the kind of fat responsible for beer guts and flabby arms.
The work of Panda and his colleagues was recently published in the journal Cell Metabolism. The research echoes a similar study that found periodic fasts were good for human health.
Researchers at NIH and Johns Hopkins found limiting calorie intake to 600 calories for two days a week helped improve immune system function and sharpen cognitive performance. The paper was published in the journal PNAS.
