Intermittent Fasting Increases Death Risk From Heart Disease By 91%: Study
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Intermittent fasting is an extremely popular practice in today’s age, especially among fitness enthusiasts and those aiming to lose weight. People may follow different patterns of intermittent fasting, but in each case, it is important to seek professional advice. While speculations of incorrectly practised intermittent fasting being detrimental to health were always rife, a new study provides quantitative evidence to the potential health risks of this practice. The results of the preliminary research, presented at a session on cardiometabolic health by the American Heart Association in Chicago, has linked intermittent fasting to increased risk of death from heart disease.
According to the study, which was conducted on over 20,000 adults in the United States with an average age of 49 years, intermittent fasting involving an eight-hour eating window may increase death risk from cardiovascular disease by 91 per cent. This means that if a person eats only during an eight-hour window, and fasts for the rest of the day, they have a 91 per cent higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease, compared to an individual who eats across 12 to 16 hours in a day.
Most people who practise intermittent fasting follow a 16:8 eating schedule, which means they fast for 16 hours, and eat only during an eight-hour window, which is usually fixed. Some may have a four-hour eating window, while others a 12-hour one. This type of intermittent fasting is known as time-restricted eating.
According to a statement released by the American Heart Association, previous studies have found that time-restricted eating improves cardiometabolic health measures such as blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol levels. While time-restricted eating, especially that involving an eight-hour non-fasting window, has gained popularity as a way to lose weight and improve heart health, the long-term health effects of this practice, including death risk from cardiovascular disease, are unknown, senior study author Victory Wenze Zhong said in the statement.
Other findings
Apart from the finding that limiting food intake to less than eight hours per day was not linked with living longer, compared to an eating schedule that spanned across 12 to 16 hours, the study found that patients with heart disease or cancer had an increased risk of cardiovascular disease death.
For people with existing cardiovascular disease, an eating window of eight to 10 hours was linked with a 66 per cent higher risk of death from heart disease or stroke.
Cancer patients with an eating window of more than 16 hours a day were found to have a lower risk of cancer mortality.
One of the most important findings was that time-restricted eating did not decrease the overall risk of death from any cause.
According to Zhong, people with morbidities such as cancer or heart conditions must be aware of the link between an eight-hour eating window and increased risk of cardiovascular death.
However, Zhong clarified that the fact that the study identified a link between an eight-hour eating window and cardiovascular death risk does not mean that time-restricted eating is responsible for cardiovascular death.
Limitations to the study, and potential future research
One of the limitations to the study was that data was obtained based on self-reported dietary information, whose accuracy could not be guaranteed because it was based on memory.
The authors noted that future research may be focused on understanding the biological mechanisms responsible for the links between different time-restricted eating schedules, and adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
Also, studies may be conducted to see if the results are similar for people living in other parts of the world.
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