The 'clock diet' could defend against diabetes

The 'diet of the clock' - in which one can eat only during a restricted range of the day (all meals are consumed within a period of no more than 10 hours) could protect people at risk from diabetes.
It is suggested by a pilot clinical study published in the journal Cell Metabolism and conducted by Satchidananda Panda, of the Salk Institute of La Jolla in California.
The research involved 19 patients with metabolic syndrome, a clinical picture generally characterized by overweight, high blood pressure, high triglycerides and high cholesterol, high fasting blood sugar. People suffering from metabolic syndrome are at high risk of developing diabetes.
The 'diet of the clock', in which calories are not counted but only meal times are taken into account, has already proved effective in losing weight in the past. In this diet that is reasonably simple for most individuals, the rule is not to eat for 14 hours a day: it means that if breakfast is consumed at 8 am, dinner should take place no later than 6 pm. A simple way to comply with this rule is to have breakfast two hours after waking up.
Well, the 19 patients followed the clock diet for three months in a row: all of them lost weight, those with high blood pressure saw their values ​​reduced, as well as those of bad cholesterol. In short, many of the fundamental aspects of the metabolic syndrome and therefore of the risk of diabetes are reduced with three months of this diet.
The authors are currently setting up a new clinical trial that will involve at least 100 patients, half of whom will follow the clock's diet, to confirm this preliminary data. "This type of dietary intervention - explains Francesco Purrello of the University of Catania and President of the Italian Society of Diabetology (SID) - is connected to the maintenance of circadian rhythms (or in other words the alternation of light and dark, the sleep rhythms- waking up and everything connected to them) good for metabolism Circadian rhythms, real biological clocks, play a decisive role in the functioning of many hormonal or nervous systems - explains Purrello. because obtained without apparent changes in the eating habits or physical activity of the subjects participating in the study ", concludes the diabetologist. (ANSA).