Diet and inflammation

The study findings answer how that connection between diet and inflammation works.

But the lessons that eating less can reduce inflammation and problems associated with it aren’t new.

“We’re consistently over-fueling, and that then leads to what I would call inflammatory pathways,” Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RDN, who manages wellness nutrition services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, told Healthline. “So time-restricted eating limits that.”

“That’s not to say that food isn’t important,” she added.

It’s just about moderation.

One thing Kirkpatrick has recommended to some of her clients is to only eat between certain hours of the day as well as avoiding sugars.

She suggested only eating between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. as an example, which somewhat mimics circadian rhythms.

This time-restricted eating has “been shown to improve overall gut health and microbiota, which has been shown to have big impact on health,” she said.

What researchers discovered

In the new study, the human participants did something a bit different.

They weren’t allowed to eat between noon and 3 p.m. on the first day, and then not between 8 p.m. that same day until 3 p.m. of the following day. They were allowed to drink water.

At 3 p.m. on both days, blood was drawn to test white blood cell levels. White blood cells, of which monocytes are one type, are the body’s protection against infection and typically indicate inflammation.

“We use them to learn whether someone is sick and there are numbers that are considered normal,” Merad said. “People with an infection have big numbers. What we saw here is a very strong drop in monocytes.”

Other studies have found somewhat similar things.

A 2013 study concluded that fasting for more than 24 hours may lower inflammation by reducing oxidative stress in cells.

A 2014 studyTrusted Source found that both intermittent fasting and alternate-day fasting were as effective as limiting calorie intake at reducing insulin resistance.

But Merad hopes to look further into different diets — including into any potential negative impacts they may have.

“And then we will really start to understand whether we can make strong recommendations to the public,” she said.

The best ways to fast

Unlike diets that cut out or down on certain foods, intermittent fasting typically involves just not eating at certain times.

Typically, that means refraining for 16 to 24 hours, usually twice a week. At its most extreme, people will refrain from food for 48 hours.

“Intermittent fasting is becoming very fashionable, but some people are doing crazy things like not eating for days,” Merad noted.

But the point isn’t to stop eating.

“What I’m saying is we probably eat too much and too often — definitely we eat too often,” she said.