Research

Energy balance

Restricting energy intake between 19:00 and 06:00 hours significantly reduces total daily energy intake and body weight in healthy young men over a short-term (2-week) period.

To reduce your daily calorie intake without counting calories, stop eating after 7 PM. This study shows that simply avoiding food between 7 PM and 6 AM led to a significant drop in daily energy intake and weight loss in young men over two weeks. You can drink water during this window. This is a simple 'small-changes' approach that may help prevent weight gain.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
During the NER condition, the participants consumed less daily average energy (10 125 v. 11 146 kJ/d) than during the control condition (F ¼ 6·41; P¼ 0·018)... The average weight change during the NER condition was -0·4 (SD 1·1) kg and during the control condition was +0·6 (SD 0·9) kg (F ¼ 22·68; P<0·001).
James D. LeCheminant et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2013

Why this rating

Small sample size (n=27), short duration (2 weeks), and specific population (healthy young men) limit generalizability, though the crossover design is robust.

Source

Restricting night-time eating reduces daily energy intake in healthy young men: a short-term cross-over study

James D. LeCheminant et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2013

DOI 10.1017/s0007114513001359

crossover · n=29Cited 120×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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