Fasting Time Effects in Time-Restricted Eating (FaTE-TRE)

Over the past century, lifestyles and eating habits have rapidly changed, helping to increase the onset of conditions such as obesity, metabolic syndrome and the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

Recently, dietary regimens such as calorie restriction and intermittent fasting have been promoted as new strategies for reducing obesity and related co-morbidities. These strategies have proven effective in reducing body fat, improving blood pressure, lipid profile and insulin resistance in overweight individuals. However, due to the rigidity of these food protocols, the adherence of subjects to the diet is often limited or maintained only for short periods.

Time-Restricted Eating (TRE) is a less extreme form of intermittent fasting, in which the subject's daily calorie intake is consumed only in a certain period of time during the day (normally 8-12 hours). TRE have been able to reduce fat mass, pro-inflammatory markers (eg IL-6, TNF-a) and have improved some biomarkers related to cardiovascular risks (eg Insulin, HDL, TG).

The literature offers numerous versions of intermittent fasting, and the role of fasting duration is not yet fully clear. Thus. the aim of the present study is to investigate the effect od different duration of fasting in a TRE protocol on body composition and lipid and inflammatory profile. Moreover, the study intended to explore the effect of 2 month of TRE on long term maintenance of diet habits, body composition, lipid and inflammatory profile.