Intermittent fasting in women over 60

Intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating (TRE) are two of the most popular trends for promoting health and weight loss. But are they effective and feasible for all of us?
There has been some question about how post-menopausal women respond to time-restricted eating. Since this is a particular population that struggles with weight gain, it makes sense that we would want to know if TRE is an effective approach for them. Now, a new study sheds light on the question.
The study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, enrolled 45 women over age 60. They were then randomly assigned to either a control group or to the intervention group, who were instructed to completely abstain from food for 16 hours, or from 8pm until noon the following day. Notably, the intervention group was not instructed to change what they ate, only when they ate.

After six-weeks, there was a small improvement in body weight (1.4 kilos) and fat mass in the TRE group, with no such improvements in the control group. There was no loss of muscle mass in either group. The study makes no mention of any adverse effects, and compliance was very good at 88%.
This small study lends more evidence to the belief that TRE can be a powerful tool for women over age 60. While the absolute weight and fat mass lost was small, keep in mind that this was only a 6-week study and it made no changes to what the subjects ate.
As we detail in our guides on breaking a weight loss stall, TRE is likely an effective and safe practice for most people. When combined with low carb, it may be even more effective!
Thanks for reading,
Bret Scher, MD FACC
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19 comments
Congratulations!!
That is wonderful, Cindy!! I am so glad you're able to listen to your body to make these changes effortless.
When I started, I was not really overweight and did not have significant food problems, but I had accumulated a few pounds more than I liked over the years and was on a slow upward trend. The intermittent fasting, which I got into gradually, initially took off 12 pounds (very slowly, as is to be expected of someone in my situation....), and continuing with the same regime has maintained the weight loss nicely.
We have various book reviews on our site that may be helpful! https://www.dietdoctor.com/?s=book&st=any
I am 62 weigh 128 want to get to 105
I am 4’10” yup really short lol
I travel with my husband in our semi
I am on low carb 20 to 39 carbs and try to stay around 1200 calories per day
Thanks
Joyce
Joyce, I'm not sure if she will see your reply. If not, you can find good suggestions at this link and we have a whole collection of low carb and keto recipes.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/how-to-lose-weight/menopause
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/recipes
Here is our guide to calories.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/calories