Just changing your meal schedule could calm an illness as serious as
Crohn’s disease. This is the idea tested by a team from the University of Calgary, who asked adults suffering from this chronic inflammation of the intestine to group all their meals into an eight-hour window per day, without changing what they ate or counting calories.
Crohn’s disease: patients looking for practical solutions
Crohn’s disease causes diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fatigue and weight loss, and almost 80% of patients will have surgery in their lifetime. Many are therefore looking for dietary levers to lighten their daily lives.
“People with Crohn’s disease often look for practical solutions to improve their health in addition to their medication treatment.”explains Natasha Haskey, research associate at the University of British Columbia and principal investigator of the study.
As such, the researchers wanted to know the implementation of an intermittent fast consisting of taking all meals within an interval of 8 hours per day, followed by a 16-hour fast, could be beneficial to these patients.
16/8 intermittent fasting tested in adults with Crohn’s disease
The researchers recruited 35 adults living with Crohn’s disease and overweight or obesity, in remission or with a mildly active form. Twenty were randomly assigned to follow a 16/8 schedule, with food intake over eight hours and fasting the rest of the time, while fifteen continued their usual diet. The team measured symptoms, inflammation and body composition at the start and at twelve weeks.
In this setting, no one received instructions for calorie restriction or specific diet changes, which allows the effect of meal timing to be isolated. “This study shows that while weight loss is an important outcome in overweight people with Crohn’s disease, time-restricted eating provides additional benefits that go beyond just weight loss“, explained Maitreyi Raman, associate professor of medicine at the University of Calgary and lead author of the study.
A reduction in disease activity by approximately 40% and abdominal pain by 50%
After twelve weeks, 16/8 patients saw bowel movement frequency decrease by approximately 40% and abdominal pain reduced by half, according to the Harvey Bradshaw Clinical Score. They also lost on average nearly 2.5 kg, while the control group gained around 1.7 kg. Their body mass index decreased by 0.9 kg/m², while it increased by 0.6 kg/m² in the controls, with a net reduction in visceral fat.
“We observed significant improvements in disease symptoms, reduction in abdominal pain, favorable changes in metabolism and inflammation, and promising changes in gut flora – all of which suggest that intermittent fasting may help patients maintain lasting remission of Crohn’s disease.” testifies Professor Maitreyi Raman.
The 16/8 group also had a drop in leptin and PAI-1, hormones linked to adipose tissue and inflammation, with less visceral fat, with no difference in caloric intake compared to controls. These changes were not solely the result of diet quality or calorie reduction, as both groups ingested similar foods in equivalent amounts. This suggests that meal timing may have a particular impact on maintaining good digestive and immune health.
A promising avenue but reserved for certain Crohn’s patients
The researchers point out that even if these results are promising, the trial remains limited, involving 35 adults followed for twelve weeks. Larger trials will be needed to confirm the long-term safety and effectiveness of this approach for broader groups of IBD patients.
If you nevertheless decide to try this strategy, you must ensure that all this is done under the supervision of a doctor.