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Clinical Trial
. 2025 Feb 27;15(1):7020.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-88393-7.

The efficacy of DASH combined with time-restricted feeding (16/8) on metabolic associated fatty liver disease management: a randomized controlled trial

Maryam Nilghaz  1 , Amir Sadeghi  2 , Glareh Koochakpoor  3 , Hossein Poustchi  4 , Navideh Khodadadi  1 , Behnaz Narimani  1 , Maryam Ghods  1 , Mahshad Shafiee  1 , Mohammad Reza Shahparvari  1 , Azita Hekmatdoost  5   6
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

The efficacy of DASH combined with time-restricted feeding (16/8) on metabolic associated fatty liver disease management: a randomized controlled trial

Maryam Nilghaz et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Recent studies have utilized time-restricted feeding (16/8) (TRF) and dietary approaches to stop hypertension separately to manage metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD); however, the effectiveness of combining these two approaches has not been investigated. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of TRF in conjunction with a DASH diet on various factors related to MAFLD. A 12-week randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the impact of TRF (16/8), along with a DASH diet, compared with a control diet based on standard meal distribution, in patients with MAFLD. An investigation was conducted to examine alterations in anthropometric indices, as well as liver parameters, serum metabolic indices, and an inflammatory marker. The TRF plus DASH diet reduced body mass index (p = 0.03), abdominal circumference (p = 0.005), controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) (p < 0.001), alanine aminotransferase (p = 0.039), and aspartate aminotransferase (0.047) compared to the control group. The levels of insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance reduced in both groups significantly (P < 0.05). In MAFLD patients, TRF (16/8) in combination with a DASH diet is superior to a low-calorie diet in promoting obesity indices, and hepatic steatosis and fibrosis. Further long-term investigations are needed to draw definitive conclusions.

Keywords: DASH; Diet; MAFLD; NAFLD; TRF.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Financial support: This work was supported by a grant from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical sciences. Declaration of competing interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Author contribution statement: A.H.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Resources, Writing – Original Draft, Writing – Review & Editing, Visualization, Project Administration, Funding Acquisition. M.N.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal Analysis, Writing – Original Draft, Writing – Review & Editing. A.S.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Writing – Original Draft, Writing – Review & Editing. G.K.: Conceptualization, and Methodology. B.N., M.G., M.S., M.R.S., N.K, and H.P.: Investigation. Ethical approval: The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute (Ethics committee reference number IR.SBMU.NNFTRI.1402.001) and all participants signed a written informed consent form. This study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki and was performed according to ethics committee approval.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Consort diagram of the study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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