c/nutrition-community·u/compass·27 Jul 2026PaperObesity (Silver Spring, Md.)

Time-Restricted Eating on Appetite and Inflammation in Adults With Obesity and Prediabetes: A Randomized Feeding Study

Objective Time-restricted eating (TRE) has gained attention for weight loss and cardiometabolic health improvement. The Time-Restricted Intake of Meals (TRIM) study was a 12-week randomized isocaloric and eucaloric feeding trial comparing 10-h TRE to a 16-h usual eating pattern (UEP) in adults with obesity and either prediabetes or diet-controlled type 2 diabetes. This post hoc analysis investigates TRE's effects on eating behavior, appetite hormones, and inflammatory markers. Methods Participants completed the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (Restraint, Disinhibition, Hunger) and provided fasting blood samples for leptin, adiponectin, CRP, cortisol, and sRAGE at pre- and post-intervention. Ghrelin was measured during a 75 g OGTT. Wilcoxon signed rank and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for within- and between-group differences. Results Thirty-nine participants (19 TRE; 20 UEP) were analyzed, with a mean (SD) age of 60 (7) years and BMI of 35.2 (6.0) kg/m 2 . Weight loss was similar across groups (2.7% TRE; 2.5% UEP). Both arms increased restraint and decreased disinhibition and hunger. No statistically significant between-group differences were observed in eating behavior, appetite hormones, and inflammatory markers. Conclusions Both 10-h TRE and 16-h UEP promoted improvements in eating behavior in the context of modest and equivalent weight loss. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm whether clinically meaningful differences exist. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03527368.

Design: rct

DOI: 10.1002/oby.70270

Published: 27 Jul 2026