A shorter daily eating window might do a little extra for the aging brain.
A small clinical trial found older women in a six-month weight loss program did better on some thinking tests when they ate within about 8 to 9 hours a day, compared with women who spread meals across about 12 hours. Both groups lost similar amounts of weight.
“Losing weight alone will ward off some of the aging-related cognitive decline, and these data suggest that there may be additional benefits if you stop eating 4 hours prior to going to sleep and reduce food intake to 8-9 hours per day, compared to the usual eating window of 12 hours per day,” said Sue Shapses, PhD, RD, DFASN, professor at Rutgers University and Rutgers-RWJ Medical Center, the study’s principal investigator.
Shapses and colleagues presented the findings at NUTRITION 2026, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, held July 25 to 28 in National Harbor, Maryland.
The trial included 47 women aged 50 to 79 with overweight or obesity. Each participant got guidance to cut daily calorie intake by 500 calories. Twenty-six women were told to eat all food within less than nine hours each day. The rest continued eating across about 12 hours.
Women in the time-restricted eating group generally ate between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Their average eating period was 8.2 hours a day, compared with 12.3 hours in the standard eating group.
After six months, the women lost an average of about 6.8 kilograms. Weight loss was similar in both groups.
The women in the shorter eating window group performed significantly better on tests of spatial planning and problem solving than those in the 12-hour group. They also tended to make fewer mistakes on tests involving memory and learning, although that difference did not reach statistical significance.
Researchers found no significant differences between the groups on tests of reaction time or multitasking.
“There was a modest effect of time-restricted eating to improve spatial planning and problem-solving and on reducing errors related to memory and learning,” Shapses said. “These outcomes suggest a better ability to remember information during everyday tasks and reducing mistakes related to memory, attention and problem-solving. Reductions in the eating window predicted greater improvements.”
The researchers said the trial was small and larger studies are needed to confirm the cognitive findings in a broader population. They said future research will look at why meal timing might affect the brain, including possible links with circadian rhythm, inflammation, metabolic health and biological pathways involved in sensing and responding to nutrients.
The findings are preliminary. Abstracts at NUTRITION 2026 were reviewed and selected by a committee of experts, but generally have not completed the full peer review process required for publication in a scientific journal.
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