Doctors have found out how long you should fast per day to reduce sugar in type 2 diabetes.

Researchers from NUTRIM, the Dutch Maastricht University School for Nutrition and Translational Studies in Metabolism, have shown that people with type 2 diabetes can lower their blood sugar without changing their diet, simply by shortening the time they eat. up to 10 hours a day. The results of the study were published in the journal. diabetology.

In Western countries, people tend to spread their daily food intake over at least 14 hours, resulting in a true non-fasting during the night. Along with other factors, this contributes to the development of type 2 diabetes, which has become one of the most common metabolic diseases in the world.

Previous research has shown that limiting mealtimes to a window of 12 hours or less is associated with positive metabolic changes in overweight or obese people: lower blood sugar levels, increased insulin sensitivity, and fat burning. However, these studies used extremely short eating intervals (6-8 hours) and tightly controlled working conditions, making such protocols difficult to implement in daily life.

The authors of the new study recruited 14 people with type 2 diabetes aged 50 to 75 (7 men, 7 women, mean age 67.5 years) and a body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m2. The experiment lasted three weeks, with participants fitted with a CGM device that measures blood sugar levels every 15 minutes. They were instructed to maintain their usual sleep and physical activity patterns and maintain a stable weight.

After participants limited their food intake to a 10-hour window, the range in which glucose levels remained normal increased from 12 noon to 3 p.m. They also significantly lowered fasting glucose levels, but insulin sensitivity remained unchanged.

The authors emphasize the need for longer and larger protocol studies as well as evaluation of the effect of hypoglycemic drugs.