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- Creators: Shepard, Christina
Description
Background: College students face a particularly high prevalence of body dissatisfaction and weight instability increasing the risk of being unhappy and having a poor quality of life. Time-restricted feeding, a type of intermittent fasting, has gained popularity recently for sustainable weight loss without the characteristic dietary restrictions of most fad diets. A limited number of randomized control trials have looked at the effects of time-restricted feeding in humans, but none have looked at how this dietary regimen impacts happiness and quality of life. Objective: The goal was to examine the effects of an 18-hour daily fasting regimen compared to an 8-hour daily fasting regimen on happiness and quality of life in college students in Arizona.
Methods: Participants included 29 healthy, non-smoking, non-vaping students attending college in Arizona between October 2020 to March 2021. Of the 16 participants allocated to the time-restricted feeding intervention, 8 completed the trial. Of the 13 participants allocated to the control group, 10 completed the trial. The eating window began within one hour of waking up with a 6-hour eating window for the intervention group and 16-hour window for the control group. They could do one cheat day per week. No dietary restrictions were enforced. Participants completed the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire and the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life questionnaire at baseline, week 4, and week 8. Week 8 data were not reported due to data collection changes and cancellations related to the new safety protocols for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results: Quality of life related to social relationships improved significantly in the intervention group (p=0.026). There was a trend favoring the intervention group as well showing a possible improvement in happiness related to perceived energy levels (p=0.088). No other significant data were reported.
Conclusion: Adherence to an 18-hour time-restricted feeding regimen for 8 weeks may improve quality of life related to social relationships in college students in Arizona. The results of this trial do not suggest a significant impact on overall quality of life or happiness in this population.
ContributorsDe León, Anateresa (Author) / Johnston, Carol (Thesis advisor) / Shepard, Christina (Committee member) / Grant, Shauna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Intermittent Fasting (IF) is defined as a cyclical eating pattern where an individual will fast for a specific increment of time, followed by caloric intake periods. Fasting is a crucial part of our ancestors’ adaptation to the stresses of famine in order to maintain mental acuity and physical abilities during food deprivation. IF influences physiological changes such as: triggers protective metabolic pathways, increases metabolic flexibility and resilience, promotes DNA repair and autophagy, increases microbiome diversity and restores the natural cyclical fluctuations of the gut, increases BDNF expression in mood regulating neuronal circuits, and enhances synaptic plasticity of the brain. Research on the underlying causes of mood disorders has linked impairments in neuroplasticity and cellular resilience to this pathophysiology, which fasting could mitigate. Depression and anxiety are reported as the top impediments to academic performance. Thus, an easily implemented treatment such as intermittent fasting may be an option for combating impaired mental health in college students. This research study tested time restricted feeding (TRF) and its impact on mood states. It was hypothesized that: if college students follow a time restricted feeding pattern, then they will be less moody due to TRF’s effects on the metabolism, brain, and gut. The study consisted of 11 college students: 5 following a four-week adherence to TRF (8am-4pm eating window) and 6 in the control group. The POMS questionnaire was used to measure mood states. The participants height, weight, BMI, body fat %, and POMS scores were tested at the beginning and end of the 4 week intervention. The results were as follows: weight p=0.112 (statistical trend), BMI p=0.058 (nearly significant), body fat % p=0.114 (statistical trend), POMS p=0.014 (statistically significant). The data suggests that following a TRF eating pattern can decrease moodiness and improve mood states.
ContributorsFoley, Sadie Jean (Author) / Johnston, Carol (Thesis director) / Shepard, Christina (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05