In some ways, I’m just as susceptible to health fads as anyone – the promise of a new way of eating or moving, a hack to improve sleep or relieve stress is hard to resist. In other ways, I’m less susceptible.

In nearly two decades of writing about health, I’ve waded through all shades of rubbish and seen “the next big thing” come and go, time and again. Meanwhile, the boring old stalwarts – move regularly, eat mostly unprocessed foods, prioritise sleep and relationships and address stress – remain.

Making sense of the science (or the headlines) is not always easy.Credit: Getty

Sometimes new research or a fresh trend has merit or at least a kernel of truth (a nutrient that is genuinely bad for some people, like gluten, doesn’t mean we all need to avoid it). And sometimes there is a true nugget of gold, which can change the way we live for the better.

Intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating are two trends that have captured the imagination of researchers and the public alike.

While intermittent fasting is essentially a way to limit energy intake, time-restricted eating (TRE) doesn’t involve counting calories. The idea is that we eat in a defined window of time each day (typically between 6 and 12 hours) to give our bodies the break they need to rest and prioritise other essential functions. Of course, TRE may mean you don’t have snacks after dinner, which doesn’t hurt either. Early evidence has suggested its benefits include weight regulation, longevity and improved metabolic health.

Researchers know that when our eating is misaligned with our circadian rhythm (eating at night when our body wants to sleep, for instance) we increase our risk of metabolic and weight issues.

In contrast, when we align our eating window with mostly daylight hours, researchers have hypothesised that it supports our circadian rhythm and therefore, our overall health. The caveat is that by being too restrictive or not having a nutritionally balanced diet, you’ll cancel any beneficial effects it might have. More research is needed, but it’s promising, and it’s one of the health practices I’ve been convinced enough to adopt.

Fasting, on the other hand, is a trend I tried and ultimately didn’t buy: I don’t have weight or metabolic health issues and feared diet culture had co-opted it to justify disordered eating. But, new research “rocked the scientific consensus” on TRE, as one publication put it.