Summary: In a 3-month randomised controlled trial of 52 adults with overweight and prediabetes or obesity, a 10-hour time-restricted eating window did not significantly alter mitochondrial bioenergetics of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) or platelets compared with habitual living. No statistically significant differences in mitochondrial respiration were observed within or between groups, and exploratory associations with body mass index and fat mass were also null.
PICO Summary
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Population | 52 adults with overweight and prediabetes or obesity at high risk of type 2 diabetes; 3-month single-centre randomised controlled trial (Denmark). |
| Intervention | Time-restricted eating with a 10-hour daily eating window for 3 months (TRE arm). |
| Comparison | Habitual living with no time restriction (control arm). |
| Outcome | No statistically significant differences in PBMC or platelet mitochondrial respiration within or between groups after 3 months (measured by Seahorse extracellular flux). Association analyses between respiration and clinical parameters, including body mass index and fat mass, were also non-significant. Exact effect sizes, 95% confidence intervals and p-values were not reported in the abstract; the trial was reported as null and well tolerated. |
Expert Commentary
This randomised controlled trial reports a clearly null result. Over three months, a 10-hour time-restricted eating window produced no statistically significant change in the mitochondrial bioenergetics of peripheral blood mononuclear cells or platelets, and no significant difference was detected against habitual living. The finding is consistent and should be read as an absence of a measurable mitochondrial signal in circulating blood cells, not as evidence that time-restricted eating is metabolically inert at the level of muscle or liver, which were not assessed here. The principal limitation is statistical power: with only 52 participants analysed, the trial may have been underpowered to detect small between-group differences, so a null result cannot be equated with proven equivalence. Several authors are affiliated with a pharmaceutical manufacturer, and this sponsorship link warrants transparent acknowledgement, although the direction of the result is not one that would obviously favour a commercial interest. Can I use this with my patients? For a patient at high diabetes risk asking whether timing meals within a 10-hour window will rejuvenate their cellular energy metabolism, the honest answer is that this study shows no such effect in blood cells, and time-restricted eating should be framed as a possible adherence and weight-management tool rather than a mitochondrial therapy. Larger and adequately powered trials, ideally sampling metabolically active tissue, are needed before bioenergetic claims are made.
References
de Melo JML, Blond MB, Jensen VH, Pedersen H, Clemmensen KKB, Jensen MM, et al. Time-restricted eating in people at high diabetes risk does not affect mitochondrial bioenergetics in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and platelets. Sci Rep. 2025;15(1):10175. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-94652-4
